n 


Ui 


Division   LD  46  06 
Section    V  1  3 


JUN  ',i^^  xodi 


PRINCETON  SKETCHES   ^u^.tr^^i^ 


THE    STORY    OF    NASSAU    HALL 


BY 


y 


GEORGE    R.  WALLACE 


CLASS-  OF     91 


WITH    INTRODUCTION    HY 

ANDREW  F.  WEST,  PH.D. 

GIGER  PROFESSOR  OF  LATIN  IN  THE  COLLECili  OK  NEW  JERSEY 


ILLUSTRATED 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S    SONS 

NEW    YORK  LONDON 

27    WEST  TWENTY-THIRD   STREET  24    IIEDF'ORD   STREET,    STRANI 

Sbc  l^inicKcrbocIicr  |Jrtss 
X893 


COPYRIGHT,  1893 
BY 

GEORGE    R.   WALLACE 


Electrotyped,  Printed  and  Bound  by 

"Cbc  Iknichcrbocljcr  press,  IRcw  yorh 
G.  P.  Pitnam's  Sons 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  traveller  from  the  West  or  South,  hurry- 
ing ou  his  way  to  New  York,  is  very  apt  to  set- 
tle down  to  two  hours  of  dreariness,  as  his  train 
runs  across  the  flat  plain  of  New  Jersey  ;  yet,  if 
he  be  an  observant  tourist,  he  will  have  occasion 
to  notice,  when  half-way  onward  from  Philadel- 
phia, a  distant  view  of  the  ^vest.  There,  three 
miles  away,  on  an  elevated  ridge,  and  backed  by 
a  range  of  blue  hills,  lies  Princeton,  embowered 
in  its  old  elms,  the  many  buildings  of  the 
university  rising  half  buried  in  foliage,  some 
of  them  silent  witnesses  of  a  glorious  past, 
while  more  of  them  speak  of  the  present  and 
predict  the  more  glorious  future. 

If  he  be  a  graduate,  his  eye  will  search  the 
sky  line  until,  in  the  middle  of  his  view,  he  sees 
the  slender  belfry  spire  of  Nassau  Hall,  the  his- 
toric centre  of  the  Princeton  campus.  Perhaps 
the  monotony  of  the  Jersey  plain  through  which 
he  has  been  riding  makes  the  sight  of  this  clas- 


i  V  IN  TROD  UCTION. 


sic  hill,  graced  with  its  green  groves  aud  shel- 
tering shades,  all  the  more  charming;  but, 
whether  this  be  so  or  not,  no  Princeton  man 
travelling  that  way  ever  fails,  on  passing  Prince- 
ton Junction,  to  glance  with  fondness  toward 
what  seems  to  him,  more  and  more  as  his  years 
roll  on,  a  true  oasis  of  rest  and  happiness  in  his 
life's  itinerary.  If  his  train  stops  at  the  Junction 
he  will  probably  try  the  three-mile  journey 
and  revisit  the  old  place.  He  \vill  notice  that 
the  branch  road,  with  its  formidable  grades  and 
breakneck  curves,  once  planned,  as  college  tra- 
dition says,  by  a  distinguished  professor — well, 
he  will  notice  that  these  are  "  iidem  qui  semper 
fuerunt,"  the  same  as  they  ever  were — to  use  the 
classic  words  of  that  old  Latin  pi'ose  book  now 
dead  and  gone,  in  which,  so  many  of  our  alumni 
Avere  prepai-ed  for  college.  And  as  the  puffing 
little  engine  toils  up  the  last  steep  grade  towards 
the  Princeton  station,  though  many  a  change 
will  meet  his  eye  which  will  gladden  him  as  a 
lover  of  Princeton,  and  sadden  him  as  he  misses 
some  cherished  landmark,  yet  he  will  find  many 
things  still  unaltered.  If  he  be  an  alumnus  of 
a  generation  back,  there  will  be  only  a  few  pro- 
fessors of  his  old  faculty  to  meet,  and  pei'haps  he 
is  most  likely  to  encounter  first  some  old  college 
servant  with  a  half  century's  record,  such    as 


IN  TROD  UC  TION. 


Dennis,  or  Steve,  or  tlie  indispensable  and  only 
James  Johnson. 

On  glancing  around  lie  will  notice  at  first 
only  the  Avonderful  change  that  has  come  over 
the  place  and,  as  with  a  wave  of  an  enchanter's 
wand,  transformed  the  quiet  old  college  into 
the  vigorous  and  active  university.  He  will 
see  the  old  college  green  enlarged  into  a  park 
of  hundreds  of  acres,  stretching  out  over  the 
hill  and  do^vn  the  slope,  with  its  twoscore  beau- 
tiful buildings.  He  will  learn  of  the  growth 
of  the  faculty  and  will  ascertain  that  it  has 
increased  in  a  ratio  less  only  than  the  num- 
ber of  the  students.  He  will  be  astonished  at 
the  multiplication  of  ne\v  departments,  branches 
of  study,  elective  and  optional  coui'ses,  the 
museums,  observatories,  laboratories  libraries, 
appai-atus,  the  various  athletic  grounds,  and  the 
many  club-houses,  and  other  organizations  of  the 
students.  All  these  will  seem  new  and  strange  to 
him,  wdth  the  subtle  fascination  of  the  old  and  the 
ever  striking  charm  of  the  new  beauty.  But  if 
he  stays  a  day  or  two,  most  of  the  lineaments  of 
the  old  college  as  it  was  to  him  take  sliape  again 
and  revive,  and  the  campus  ai'ound  Nassau  Hall 
will  still  be  found,  as  of  old,  the  centre  of  all  the 
university  life. 

Truly   so  and    remarkal)ly  so    in    the    beau- 


VI  INTRODUCTION. 


tiful  October  evenings,  as  the  leaves  are  begin- 
ning to  turn  and  tlie  processions  of  students 
sinLriniT  the  colleore  sono-s  move  to  and  fro  ;  or 
better  yet,  in  the  still  long  evenings  of  May  and 
June,  just  before  the  seniors  leave  and  their  sing- 
ing sounds  from  the  steps  of  Old  North,  when 
all  the  historic  memories  of  the  place,  all  the  old 
student  life  at  Princeton,  back  to  the  dim  remi- 
niscences of  the  Revolution  and  the  colonial  time 
seem  to  be  evoked  by  the  ever  new  magic  of  the 
old  music.  There  under  the  trees  planted  in 
the  time  of  Washington,  the  figures  of  the  lievo- 
lution  reappear  to  student  imagination — Madi- 
son, Witherspoon,  Ellsworth,  Stockton,  Freneau, 
Rush,  "  Light-horse  Harry  "  Lee,  the  Bayards, 
Livingstons,  Frelinghuyseus,  and  all  that  com- 
pany of  noble  souls  who  used  their  swords  to 
achieve  American  freedom,  or  their  j^ens  to  sign 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  frame  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

But  our  prosaic  muse  is  running  away  Avith 
us,  and  we  are  getting  into  the  domain  of  Mr. 
Wallace's  book.  Suppose  our  traveller  cannot 
stop  at  Princeton  Junction.  Suppose  he  is  far 
away  from  Princeton.  Then  let  him  i-ead  this 
book,  \vritten  newly  by  one  who  has  lately 
passed  out  from  under  the  Princeton  elms.  They 
too  are  the  same  as  they  ever  were — but  a  little 


INTRODUCTION.  Vli 


older,  a  little  grander,  a  little  more  majestic. 
This  book  will  take  the  reader  in  spirit  to  the 
old  academic  shades.  There  he  may  recline  on 
the  mellow  sward  and  hear  the  seniors  singing, 
and  re-create  in  his  own  imai>;ination  that  little 
world  of  university  life,  now  lost  to  his  sight, 
but  living  as  truly  as  ever  in  his  heart  and  life. 

Andrew  F.  West. 


CONTENTS. 


I. — In  Goon  Old  Colony  Days 
II. — The  Rf.volution 
III. —  Thk  Halls         .... 
IV. — Ante  Bellum    .... 
V. — Administratkjn  t)F  James  McCosh 
VI. — Princeton  University 
VII. — Under  the  Princeton  Elms    . 
VIII. — The  Princeton  Idea 


1 
29 

53 

72 

lOI 

128 
149 
179 


Know  all  Men   by  there  Prerents,  That  I  p£h^  ^L^Lfi>^^ 

For  and  in  Confideration  of  of  the  Sum  of  S>  i-f^^  /^ru-*^S:>    ^  -y^ 
r*--  -s^  '>^  '^    -^rj-  o^-T^  o^       Current  Money  of  the  Province  of 
an* t^tr^^Ti^  f^     to  me  in  Hand  paid  at  and  before  the  Enfcaling 
and  DchvCry  of  thefe  Prefents,  by    "^fJi*-  -^-^-^  01/^  ^a/L^rn^  ^.^u^i;) 
y-i-^iidu^  ^  /A^jy^lU-y-'  ^Vi^^^^c^^   oi^  o^  -7— 
-V-  ^f-   >^<^-  ''yh  '*»f-  ^*»^  ni^y^  the  Receipt^  whereof  I  do  hereby 
acknowledge,  and  myfelf  to  be  therev/ith  fully  fatisfied,  contented  and 
^aid  :  Have  Granted,  Bargained,  Sold,  Releafed,  and  by  thefe  Prefents 
do  fully,  clearly  and  abf^^lutely  grant,  bargain,  fell  and  releafe  unto  the 
faid    J}t  ■    a^an-ey^  J2fu^yv>  Ju^    ^-*.i/r7  SCd-^i-p,^  a^f4iA±,u^ 

iy/4-j/U>  Jn^ayhj  ih^/iyK^    /QiJJ/i.^    ^   (^   of^  '^<>r-'-yi^^^~>^ 

To  HAVE  and  to  HOLD  the  faid    '/l*-^   ^  ^^  Qi:^J.=^  ^  -^ 

-^  -y-      unto  the  faid  fjjl  Q^a^aL.  ^u^rx.  ALv    -^  -^  "^ 
Executors,  Adminiftrators  and  Affigns  forever.     And  I  the  fuld y-^"^^^ 
(^f.iiry->^-A^ JtP*-'     for  my  Self,  my  Heirs,  Executors  and  Administrators, 
do  covenant  and  agree  to  and  with  the  above-named  0~a^'i,ff^^*^j>ii,rij 

^tl^  o^  •yt'  '^  "f  Executors,  Adminiftrators  and  Affigns,  to 
warrant  and  defend  the  Sale  of  the  above-named  fLa^^/i^  ^/-^  ,v 
.<3!u^^>-*^  ^A-.'/i'^  againft  all  Perfons  whatfoever.  In  V/itnefi 
whereof  I  have  hereunto  fet  my  Hand  and  Seal  this  t-*^  c-cO^-^  -y^^ 
Day  of  ^Aj^jJ:3~4f^~B  i^  ^wno^;  i)oOT,  One  Thoufand  Seven  Hundred 
and  Fifty  ♦//  ''V^  •• 


Sealed  and  Delivered,  in 
the  Prefence  of" 


4^  ^ayfyza^ — ^  Jfl^ Uuft^^.jJfJL 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Nassau  Hall 

Bill  of  Sale  of  Negro 

Paper  Executed  in  1748 

President  Jonathan  Dickinson  .         .         .         . 

Fac-Simile  of  Advertisement  of  Lottery  i\ 
"The  Pennsylvania  Journal,"  January 
16,  1750 

President  Aaroxn  Burr 

Fac-Similes  of  Lottery  Tickets 

Marquand  Chapel  and  Murray  Hall 

Nassau  Street  in  Front  of  the  Campus 

Bill  for  Refreshments 

The  Old  President's  House,  now  the  Dean's 

Scheme  of  a  Lottery  for  the  Use  of  the  Col 
LEGE  OF  New  Jersey    . 

The  Bulletin  Elm 

President  Jonathan  Edwards 

Princeton  University  . 

Graves  of  the  Presidents  . 

President  John  Witherspoon 

The  West  Campus,  from  University  Place 

xiii 


Frontispiece 

xii 

xvi 

3 


5 

7 

9 

1 1 

15 
19 
23 

26 
27 
30 
31 
35 
19 
41 


XIV 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


The  Old  Cannon  . 

OFFrcES  OF  Administration 

Clio  Hall 

Alexander  Hall. 

Edwards  Hall      .... 

On  the  Campus — The  Potter  Woods 

Prospect — the  President's  House 

East  College 

Museum  of  Historic  Art 

West  College 

President  McCosh 

McCosh  Walk 

The  School  of  Science 

The  Front  Campus 

On  the  Campus — View  from  Prospect 

Bronze  Statue  of  President  McCosh  in 

quand  Chapel     . 
The  Dynamo  House 
The  Magnetic  Observatory 
The  Halsted  Observatory 
The  Working  Observatory 
Under  the  Elms  . 
Bonner-Marquand  Gymnasium 
The  Brokaw  Memorial  Building  and 

Tank    . 
David  Brown  Hall 
Albert  Dodd  Hall 
Dickinson  Hall 


Mar 


Swimming 


PACE 

45 
51 
55 
63 
67 
75 
79 
83 
93 
97 
103 
107 

113 
117 


131 
135 
139 
143 
147 
151 
155 

159 
163 

169 
173 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS.  xv 


PAGE 


The  University  Boat-House  i77 

WiTHERSPOON  Hall        .         .  i8i 

The  Chemical  Laboratory  185 

University  Hall  .  189 

Reunion  Hall  193 

The  Princeton  Inn                .  .              197 


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I'*' 


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is  paper  was  prohahly  executed  iu  Sei)leinher,  174S,  at  which  time  T.ov.  I'-elchcr  mic- 
in  havinir  I'rinceton  fixed  upon  as  a  site  for  the  College.      Vid.  Hageman  s  History  oj 


This 
ceeded  in  iiavmg 
Princeton,  vol.  ii.,  page  243. 


PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 


I. 


IN  GOOD  OLD  COLONY  DAYS. 

Our  weary  travellers  pass  along, 
Cheered  by  the  wildwood's  merry  song, 
To  where  old  Princeton's  classic  fane, 
With  cupola  and  copper  vane, 
And  learning's  holy  honors  crowned, 
Looks  from  her  high  hill  all  around, 
O'er  such  a  wondrous  fairy  scene, 
Of  waving  woods  and  meadows  green. 
That,  sooth  to  say,  a  man  might  swear 
Was  never  seen  so  wondrous  fair. 

The  Lay  of  the  Scottish  Fiddle. 

In  the  ancient  town  of  Newark,  on  the  9th  of 
November,  1748,  were  celebrated  the  "  Pnblic 
Acts  "  of  the  first  commencement  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey.  Before  the  President's  liouse 
six  young  men  in  black  gowns,  standing  two  and 
two,  formed  the  head  of  a  column.  Behind 
them    wei'e  the    sixteen    crentlemen    named    as 


PRINCE  TON   SKR  TCHES. 


Trustees  in  the  Royal  Charter,  while  in  the 
doorway  stood  the  young  President,  Rev.  Aaron 
Burr,  in  robe,  bands,  and  wig,  his  gentle,  intel- 
lectual face  contrasting  pleasantly  with  the 
shrewd  and  courtly  expression  of  His  Excellency 
Gov.  Belcher,  who,  as  President  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  stood  beside  him,  gorgeous  in  the  coui't 
costume  of  the  18th  century.  At  the  oi-der, 
''  P rogredimiiii  juveiies,''^  the  procession  moves 
to  the  church,  the  candidates  walking  uncovered. 
There  is  "an  eles^ant  oration  in  the  Latin 
tongue "  by  the  President,  there  are  learned 
disputations  in  Latin  by  the  candidates,  an 
address  by  the  Orator  Salutatorius,  delivered  in 
"  a  modest  and  decent  manner,"  not  to  mention 
other  imposing  ceremonies,  before  the  degrees 
are  conferred,  "  all  which  being  performed  to 
the  great  satisfaction  of  all  present,  His  Excel- 
lency, with  the  Trustees  and  Scholars,  returned 
to  the  house  of  the  President  in  the  order  ob- 
served in  the  morning." 

About  two  years  before,  on  the  2  2d  of  Octo- 
ber, 1746,  the  first  charter  of  the  college  passed 
the  Great  Seal  and  was  attested  by  John  Ham- 
ilton, Esq.,  President  of  His  Majesty's  Council 
and  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Province  of 
New  Jersey.  Although  the  grants  under  this 
instrument  do  not  seem  to  have  been  perfectly 


IN   GOOD   OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 


satisfactory,  the  Ti'ustees  proceeded  at  once  to 
elect  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Dickinson  President  of 
the  infant  institution,  and  the  first  term  began 


PRESIDENT    JONATHAN    DICKINSON. 

on  the  fourth  week  of  May,  1747.  AVe  do  not 
know  how  many  students  gathered  at  Elizabeth 
Town  to  enjoy  the  instructions  of  the  President 
and  his  assistant,  but  the  probability  is   that 


PRINCE  TON  SKE  TCHES. 


there  were  about  tweuty.  For  some  years,  Mr. 
Dickinson  had  been  conducting  an  unchartered 
school  for  young  men,  which  accounts  for  the 
fact  that  there  was  a  class  ready  to  receive  de- 
grees one  year  after  the  founding  of  the  college. 
Like  the  more  venerable  universities  of  Europe, 
Princeton  l)egau  ^vitll  instructors  instead  of 
buildinir-*^,  and  the  home  of  the  President  was 
the  home  of  the  institution. 

President  Dickinson  was  a  man  of  remarkable 
energy  and  ability.  Besides  performing  his 
duties  as  President,  he  was  minister  of  a  large 
parish  and  a  practising  })hysieiaM  of  some  repute. 
No  man  was  more  influential  than  he  in  found- 
ing the  college,  and  the  prestige  of  his  great 
name  as  a  preacher  and  controversialist,  both  in 
this  country  and  abroad,  gave  it  an  assured  posi- 
tion from  the  first.  He  broke  down,  however, 
under  the  strain  of  his  excessive  labors,  and  died 
before  the  end  of  the  first  academic  year. 

The  Rev.  Aaron  Burr,  a  young  man  of  thirty- 
one,  but  whose  reputation  was  already  made, 
was  elected  as  his  successor,  and  the  college 
moved  to  his  home  at  Newark.  It  was  Mr. 
Buri''s  good  fortune  to  l)egiu  his  administration 
with  the  new  chai'ter,  a  mncli  more  liberal  and 
satisfactory  document,  \vhieh  had  l)een  procured 
thi'ouirh  the  inteivst  of  Governor  Belcher. 


IN  GOOD   OLD   COLONY  DA  YS. 


to  appeals  for  funds  at  this  time  shows  how 
thoroughly  the  college  was  recognized  as  a  seat 
of  learning  without  sectarian  bias. 


CotineBicut  Lottery. 

For  the  Benefit  of  the  College  of  f^eiu-Jerfey. 

1753-        Biimh.^^  SS 

This  ^'^'^^^^  entitles  the  Pofilfibr  to  fuch  Prize 
as  may  be  drawn  againll  its  Number,   (if 
demanded  withitj.fix  Months   after  the  Drawing  is 
iS.niflied)  fubjed'cTo  a  Deduiflion  of   i  c  per  Cent.' 
W 


New-Jersey  Cclkge    LOTTERY.    -yP 

IS  TICKET  intitles  the  PoffelTor 'to  firch  Pnzf  as  fha'.l 
be  <!rE.\vn  ;i j, j'.'l'n ft  it's   Nnmbcr.  pi'ovit'ledpt'  tie  demar.dtd 


y/^   „        ,.     ^ ^ ^_ 

IJ))'i^f^  w:tb'm  Six  Months  alter  the  .Oj-awiu^'ls  finimed,  ful-jecl  to,a 


'.a\  Ded'.itliou  ct'  Fifteen  pA-  Cent. 


FAC-SIMILES   OF   LOTTERY   TICKETS. 

As  early  as  1750,  the  Trustees  were  able  to 
make  overtures  to  Prince  Town  and  New  Bruns- 
wick for  a  ])ermanent  location.  The  superior 
enterprise  and  public  spirit  of  her  citizens  se- 
cured the  piize  for  the  former   town,   and  on 


lO  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

September  27,  1752,  the   following  entry  was 
made  in  the  minutes  of  the  Board  of  Trustees : 

"  Voted,  That  the  college  be  fixed  at  Princetown, 
upon  condition  that  the  inhabitants  of  said  Place  secure 
to  the  Trustees  those  two  hundred  acres  of  wood-land, 
and  that  Ten  Acres  of  cleared  land  which  Mr.  Sergeant 
viewed  ;  and  also  one  thousand  Pounds  proc.  money. 
The  one  half  of  which  sum  to  be  paid  within  two  months 
after  the  foundation  of  the  College  is  laid,  and  the  other 
half  within  six  months  afterwards." 

Nearly  two  years  were  consumed  in  completing 
arrangements,  and  it  was  not  until  July  29, 1754, 
that  "  Joseph  Mori'ow  first  set  a  man  to  dig  the 
college  cellar." 

For  many  j^ears  the  college  was  the  largest 
building  in  the  colonies. 

"This  edifice  being  nearly  finished,  and  considered  as 
sacred  to  liberty  and  revolutionary  principles,  was  de- 
nominated Nassau  Hall,  from  that  great  deliverer  of 
Britain  and  assertor  of  protestant  liberty,  K.  William 
the  Illd,  prince  of  Orange  and  Nassau.  It  will  accom- 
modate 147  students,  computing  three  to  a  chamber. 
These  are  20  feet  square,  have  two  large  closets,  with  a 
window  in  each  for  retirement.  It  has  also  an  elegant 
hall  of  genteel  workmanship,  being  a  square  of  nearly  40 
feet  with  a  neatly  finished  front  gallery.  Here  is  a  small, 
though  exceeding  good  organ,  which  was  obtained  by 
a  voluntary  subscription.  Opposite  to  which,  and  of  the 
same  height,  is  erected  a  stage  for  the  use  of  the  students 
in  their  public  exhibitions.  It  is  also  ornamented,  on 
one  side,  with  a  portrait  of  his  late  majesty,  at  full  length  ; 


IJV  GOOD   OLD   COLONY  DAYS.  1 3 

and,  on  the  other,  with  a  like  picture  (and  above  it  the 
family-arms  neatly  carved  and  gilt)  of  his  excellency  Gov- 
ern :.r  Belcher.  The  library,  which  is  on  the  second  floor, 
is  a  spacious  room,  furnished  at  present  with  about  1,200 
volumes,  all  of  which  have  been  the  gifts  of  the  patrons 
and  friends  of  the  institution,  both  in  Europe  and  Amei-ica. 
There  is,  on  the  lower  story,  a  commodious  dining  hall, 
large  enough  to  accommodate  as  many  as  the  house  will 
contain,  together  with  a  large  kitchen,  stewards'  apart- 
ments, etc.  The  whole  structure,  which  is  of  durable 
stone,  having  a  neat  cupola  on  its  top,  makes  a  hand- 
some appearance  ;  and  is  esteemed  to  be  the  most  con- 
veniently planned  for  the  purpose  of  a  college,  of  any  in 
North  America.'' 

Ill  the  fall  of  175(),  President  Burr  moved 
witli  his  flock  of  seventy  students  to  the  quaint 
old  town  on  the  King's  Highway,  A  more 
favorable  site  could  not  have  been  chosen. 
Midway  between  the  two  great  cities  of  the 
seaboard,  "it  stands  on  the  first  high  land  which 
separates  the  alluvial  plain  of  South  Jersey  from 
the  mountainous  and  hilly  country  of  the  north. 
There  is  a  gentle  depression  between  it  and  the 
mountain,  and  a  gradual  descent  on  either  side 
of  it,  towards  the  streams  that  nearly  encircle 
it."  The  town  has  spread  itself  comfortably 
over  the  broad  tortoise-back  hill,  nearly  encir- 
cling the  campus,  whose  groves  and  towers 
occupy  the  highest  part,  and  overlook  the  rich 
garden-lands    of   Jersey.       Far    to    the    south 


14  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

stretches  an  undulating  champaign,  whose 
varied  expanse  of  field  and  forest  is  now  dotted 
with  farm-houses,  or  pierced  by  the  ascending 
shaft  of  a  white  steeple,  marking  the  site  of 
some  country  village.  Over  thirty  miles  away, 
in  the  mellow  haze  of  the  horizon,  the  blue 
ridojes  of  the  Navesink  Hio-hlauds  trace  the 
curving  line  of  the  coast.  On  the  east,  are  the 
rolling  foot-hills  of  the  mountains,  growing  more 
rugged  towards  the  north,  while  the  western 
plain  slopes  gently  to  the  Delaware  River. 
Our  founders  are  Justified  in  regarding  their 
new  home  as  "  not  inferior  in  the  salubrity  of  its 
air,  to  any  village  on  the  continent. " 

Unfortunately  for  this  generation,  no  gossip- 
ing old  traveller  seems  to  have  gone  through 
New  Jersey  in  1756,  and  we  do  not  know  ex- 
actly how  thino^s  looked  to  the  new  students. 
The  chances  are,  however,  that  such  a  traveller 
would  have  seen  a  town  very  similar  to  that 
which  met  the  eyes  of  the  Marquis  de  Chastel- 
lux  when  he  went  through  in  1780.  The  Mar- 
quis has  left  us  an  aged  and  time-stained  volume 
of  Travels  in  North  America,  in  which  he  tells 
us  that  "  beyond  King's  Town,  the  country  be- 
gins to  open  and  continues  so  to  Prince  Town. 
This  town  is  situated  on  a  sort  of  platform  not 
much    elevated,  bnt   which    commands    on    all 


IN  GOOD   OLD   COLONY  DAYS.  1/ 

sides ;  it  has  only  one  street,  formed  by  the 
high  road  ;  there  are  abont  sixty  or  eighty 
houses,  all  tolerably  well-built,  but  little  atten- 
tion is  paid  to  them,  for  that  is  immediately  at- 
tracted by  an  immense  building,  which  is  visible 
at  a  considerable  distance.  It  is  a  college  built 
by  the  State  of  Jersey  some  years  before  the 
war.  It  is  situated  towards  the  middle  of  the 
town,  on  a  distinct  spot  of  ground,  and  the  en- 
trance to  it  is  by  a  large  square  court,  surrounded 
by  lofty  palisades."  This  "  square  court "  was 
that  part  of  the  campus  in  front  of  Old  Nassau. 
As  late  as  1764  it  was  without  a  single  tree, 
and  the  only  harbinger  of  our  glorious  elms 
was  a  solitary  bush  in  the  yard  before  the 
President's  house  (now  the  Dean's).  The  two 
large  sycamores  standing  before  the  Dean's 
house  were  planted  by  order  of  the  Trustees  in 
1765,  to  commemorate  the  resistance  to  the 
Stam[)  Act. 

In  those  days  of  classical  models,  college  life 
was  a  little  more  stately  than  this  irreverent  age 
would  be  inclined  to  favor.  It  must  have  been 
a  goodly  sight  to  see  the  President,  tutoi's,  and 
students,  all  seated  together  in  the  wide  dining- 
hall,  clad  in  the  scholastic  gown,  and  arranged 
according  to  rank  and  seniority.  They  lived 
very  substantially  on  "  almost  all  the  variety  of 


1 8  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

fish  and  flesh  the  country  here  affords,  and 
sometimes  l>yes."  '  At  dinner  they  drank  small 
beer  or  cider,  and  at  suj^per,  milk  or  chocolate. 
Young  gentlemen  who  chose  to  indulge  in  that 
luxury  were  occasionally  permitted  to  make  "  a 
dish  of  tea  "  in  their  apartments. 

At  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  a  large  horn 
was  blown  in  the  entries,  which,  as  a  Freshman 
of  the  day  sadly  remarks,  sounded  like  the  last 
trumpet.  This  blast  summoned  the  students  to 
morning  prayers.  The  students  were  not  al- 
lowed to  leave  their  rooms  without  permission^ 
except  for  half  an  hour  after  morning  prayers 
or  recitation,  an  hour  and  a  half  after  dinner, 
and  from  evening  prayers  until  seven  o'clock^ 
on  the  penalty  of  four  pence  for  each  offence. 
Other  collei^e  laws  throw  a  curious  lio-ht  on  the 
customs  of  the  academic  body  in  colonial  days. 

"  None  of  the  students  shall  play  at  cards,  or  dice,  or 
any  other  unlawful  game,  upon  the  penalty  of  a  fine  not 
exceeding  five  shillings  for  the  first  offense  ;  for  the  sec- 
ond, public  admonition  ;  for  the  third,  expulsion.  No 
jumping,  hollaring,  or  boisterous  noise  shall  be  suffered 
in  the  college  at  any  time,  or  walking  in  the  gallery  in 
the  time  of  study.  No  member  of  college  shall  wear  his 
hat  in   the  college  at  any  time,  or  appear  in  the  dining 

'  To  judge  by  the  fac-simile  of  tlie  bill  of  William  Hicks,  the  an- 
nual Commencement  dinners  must  have  been  somewhat  more  festive 
in  character  than  has  generally  been  supposed. 


IN  GOOD   OLD   COLONY  DAYS.  21 

room  at  meal  time,  or  in  the  hall  at  any  public  meeting, 
or  knowingly  in  the  presence  of  the  superiority  of  the 
college,  without  an  upper  garment,  and  having  shoes  and 
stockings  tight.  Every  scholar  shall  rise  up  and  make 
obeisance  when  the  President  goes  in  or  out  of  the  hall, 
or  enters  the  pulpit  on  days  of  religious  worship.  Every 
P>eshman  sent  of  an  errand  shall  go  and  do  it  faithfully, 
and  make  quick  return.  Every  scholar  in  college  shall 
keep  his  hat  off  about  ten  rods  to  the  President,  and  five 
to  the  Tutors." 

The  annals  tell  us  that  Oliver  Ellsworth,  of 
the  class  of  176(3,  was  summoned  before  the 
college  tribunal,  charged  with  violating  the  last- 
named  rule.  Mr.  Ellsworth  made  his  defence 
after  the  following  manner :  "  A  hat  is  composed 
of  two  parts,  the  crown  and  the  brim.  Now 
this  hat  has  no  brim,  consequently  it  is  not  a 
hat,  and  I  can  be  guilty  of  no  offense."  The 
logicians  of  the  Faculty  found  the  syllogism 
correct,  and  the  defendant  was  discharged,  al- 
though it  afterwards  came  out  that  the  brim 
had  been  torn  off  with  a  view  to  making  a  test 
case.  The  student  who  displayed  this  legal 
sagacity  was  afterwards  appointed  Chief-Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

The  old  inns  and  taverns  were  no  small  feat- 
ure of  Princeton  student  life  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  Big,  lumbering  mail  coaches,  private 
carriages,  heavy  freight  wagons,  droves    of  cat- 


22  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

tie — the  whole  body  of  land  communication  be- 
tween Philadelphia  and  New  York  rolled 
through  the  little  town.  Those  wonderful 
coaches  put  on  in  1766,  which  made  the  journey 
between  the  two  cities  in  the  unprecedented 
time  of  two  days,  and  won  for  themselves  the 
name  of  "  flying-machines,"  dashed  by  the 
campus  daily.  All  this  travel  enriched  a  num- 
ber of  inns  whose  names  only  remain.  We 
hear  of  tavern  signs  such  as  "  Hudibras,"  "Con- 
federation," "Gen.  Washington,"  "  The  College," 
"  Red  Lion,"  "  City  Hotel,"  "  Mansion  House," 
"  Nassau  Hotel,"  of  which  (excepting  the  last) 
the  names  only  I'emain.  We  catch  glimpses  of 
students  mingling  with  travellers  in  the  wide 
inn-rooms,  and  indulging  occasionally  in  heavy 
drinking  and  wild  pranks,  greatly  to  the  scan- 
dal of  "  the  superiority  of  the  college." 

It  was  at  the  "  Nassau  Hotel,"  kept  by  John 
Joline,  "  as  arrant  a  tavern-keeper  as  any  in 
Christendom,"  that  Jas,  K.  Paulding,  assisted 
by  Washington  Irving,  composed  that  spark- 
ling burlesque,  published  anonymously  as  Tlie 
Lay  of  the  Scottish  Fiddle.  In  the  thii-d 
canto  is  a  description  of  a  convivium,  w^hich 
scarcely  tallies  with  the  rigid  rules  and  solemn 
portraits  that  have  come  down  to  us  from  our 
academic  ancestors. 


IN  GOOD   OLD   COLONY  DAYS.  25 

"  Around  the  table's  verge  was  spread 
Full  many  a  wine-bewildered  head, 
Of  student  learned,  from  Nassau  Hall, 
Who,  broken  from  scholastic  thrall, 
Had  sat  him  down  to  drink  outright 
Through  all  the  livelong,  merry  night, 
And  sing  as  loud  as  he  could  bawl, 
Such  is  the  custom  of  Nassau  Hall. 
No  Latin  now  or  heathen  Greek 
The  Senior's  double  tongue  can  speak, 
J^u/iiors,  from  famed  Pierian  fount, 
Had  drank  so  deep  they  scarce  could  count 
The  candles  on  the  reeling  table." 

while  the  "  emulous  Freshmen  "  were  in  a  still 
worse  condition.  Such  bouts,  we  may  believe, 
were  rare.  But  in  the  middle  of  the  jollity,  a 
travelling  fiddler  arrives, 

"  And  many  lads  and  lasses,  too, 
A  buxom,  witching,  merry  crew, 
As  love's  true  gramayre  ever  knew, 
From  country  round  have  come,  they  say. 
To  dance  the  livelong  night  away. 
Flew  ope  the  door  and  in  there  came 
Full  many  a  dancing,  loving  dame, 
With  chintz  short-gown  and  apron  checked 
And  head  with  long-eared  lawn  cap  decked. 
And  high-heeled  shoes  and  buckles  sheen. 
And  bosom  prank'd  with  boxwood  green, 
With  these,  well  paired,  came  many  a  lad 
With  health  and  youthful  spirits  glad. 
To  caper  nimbly  in  Scotch  reel. 
With  toes  turned  in,  and  outward  heel." 


26  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

We  will  leave  this  goodly  company  to  dance 
the  night  away.  Some  hours  later  the  "  students 
learned  "  will  return  to  Nassau  Hall,  slipping 
quietly  down  the  long  corridors  and  turning 
their  keys  with  a  delicate  consideration  for  the 
repose  of  the  tutor  next  door.  Next  morning 
at  five  o'clock,  in  gown,  with  shoes  and  stock- 
ings tight,  they  will  be  in  their  accustomed 
chapel  seats,  looking  like  veritable  incarnations 
of  the  rigid  rules  we  read  about.  Some  years 
later,  in  shabby  continentals,  they  will  be  fight- 
ing the  great  battles  of  American  independence, 
or,  under  the  dignity  of  full-bottomed  wigs, 
advocating  in  state  and  national  halls  the  great 
measures  of  freedom.  For  among  these  stu- 
dents, whose  fresh,  youthful  faces  peep  out  from 
behind  the  classic  masks,  are  those  whose  names 
will  be  held  sacred  by  succeeding  generations 
— men  destined  to  guide  armies,  frame  laws, 
sign  with  their  own  hand  the  Declaration,  and 
one  who  will  frame  the  document  which  makes 
us  a  nation  and  sit  with  honor  in  the  presi- 
dential chair. 


Neio-yerfty,  December  I?,  1763. 

S     C     H     E     M     E 

LOTTERY, 


For  the  USE  of 


The  College  oi  New-Jerfey 

THE  Legiflature  of  the  '^Colbny  -  of  JVcw-yer/ey,  ^  having  been  .  pleafed  to 
countenance  thk^  rifing  ;Sp«  oY  I^earning,-  fo  far  as  to  pafs  an  A&:,  enabling 
th^  Tfuftees^  'credl  and  draw  :\  Lottery,  for  raifing  any  Sum,  not  exceeding 
''I'JiseeThouftfid  Pduij^s  Proflipiatioa  jVloncy ;  it  is  hoped,  that  the  generous  Defign 
in  making,  thi^s-^'aw,:- wilt ^carri«^  into  Execution,  by  all  thoie  who  wifh  welhto 
.tHi>Injtitutioh,^(»riVvhoaBe  defirous  of  prompting  ufeful  Kfio\Mildge  in  tliefe  «infanj; 
Countries,  and  preparing  our  own  fif out^  to  fuftain  tke^^ljubli^^  Offi^,!  if^Ghi^fc^ 
flud  State.  The  following  Schcrrie  js  calculated  fori;3J|ingjjhe  S'5^;of  T\Vo  '1l^"ouf3n(|, 
Nine  Hundred  and  Ninety-nine  founds ..'Eighte*{\,'^hilljngs.- affd'Sixy&rM^'Procla- 
mation  Money:  There  arc  to  be- ^3.33' Nickels'  at'TJiirty  Shillinj^ach',.  whereof 
4488  will  be  fortunate,  -fubjeCl  to'V5"per^Cerft.  DeducSlion,  viz. 


Number  of 

Frizes. 

"iVfue  of  each. 

Tefal  Value. 

I 

of 

£' 

1 000 

is 

■c 

.  1000 

i 

X)f 

750 

is 

750 

I 

of 

500 

is 

500 

4 

of 

.200 

are 

800 

10 

of 

100 

arc 

I '000 

20 

of 

50 

arc 

1000 

50 

of 

20 

are 

1000 

100 

of 

10 

are 

1000 

4299 

I 

of 
Firft  drawn 

3 

20 

are. 
is- 

12897 

20 

I 

Laft  dra' 

wn 

32-10 

is 

32-10 

4488 

Prizes. 

8845 

Blanks. 

13333 

.Tickets, 

at  Thirty  Shillings -each, 

is 

£■ 

19999-10 

So  that  it  is  evident  there  are  not  Two  Blanks  to  a  Prize.  The  Drawing  is  to 
begin  on  the  fourth  Dayof^r/7  next,  at  7Vi7^w-i/^// in  Princeton,  or  as  foon 
before  as  the  Lottery  is  filled;  under  the  Infpedion  of  three  of  the  Truftees  of  the 
College.  Robert  Ogden,  and  William  Peartree  Smith,  Efqrs,  oi  Elizabeth- 
Tow//;  JoNATi-TAN  Sergeant,  Efq;  of  Mii/c/tv/^W,  •  and  '  Mr.  Ezekiel  Forman, 
Merchant,  oiPri?iceton^  are  appointed  Managers,  and  will  be  under  Oath  for  tho 
faithful  Execution  of  their  Truft. 

Tickets  may  be  liad  of  the  feveral  Managers;  and  o(  theunis  Bey,  Efq;  in  the  County  of 
Bergen;  Dr.  Samuel  Tuttle,  at  Morris-Toiun;  John  OgJeii,  and  NeLemiab  Baldwin,  Efqrs,  and 
IA\.  IVilliam  Camp,  at  Neivark;  Mr.  "yofcpb  JVcodruff',  at  Elizabeth-Toi^n;  James  Parker,  "Eic^i 
at  IVoodbridge;  "John  Johnjlon,'  Efq;  at  Verth-Aniboy,.  John  Tavlor,  Efq;  at  Middletoiun;  Mr. 
James  Robin/on,  at  Freehold;  John  J'/ethc'rilt,-'E['t:[;  near  Cranbury ;  James  Hade,  Efq;  3tA^e-w~ 
Bruufwick;  Hendrkk  F!Jl:er,  Efq;  near  Bound-Broook;  William  Ihomfon,  Efq;  and  Mr.  Peter 
Schenck,  at  Milftone;  Richard  Stockton,  Efq;  and  Mr.  Jonathan  Baldwin,  at  Princeton;  George 
Reading,  Efq;  zl  Amitjell;  .John  Hart,  Efq;  it  Hope-well;  John  Hackett,  Efq;  at  the  J/;;/5;/ /ro/;- 
IVorks;  Samuel  "Tucker,  Efq;  atTrenton;  the  Hon.  John  Ladd,  Eily.^t  G/ouci;/ler;  Ed-ward  Kea/Iuy, 
Efq;  at  Salem;  jyilliam  Pfttterjon,  Efq;  at  Chri/Line-Bridge;  Mr.  D.ivid  Sleuart,  at  Rcedy-Ijlandi 
Elibu  Hall,  Efq;  at  Oilarara,  Cecil  County,  and  Col.  Peter  Ba)-(ird,  at  Bohemia. 


THE   BULLETIN    ELM. 


11. 


THE    REVOLUTION. 

Nor  shall  these  angry  tumults  here  subside, 
Nor  murders  cease,  through  all  these  provinces, 
'Till  foreign  crowns  have  vanished  from  our  view 
And  dazzle  here  no  more, — no  more  presume 
To  awe  the  spirit  of  fair  Liberty  ; 
Vengeance  must  cut  the  thread. 

Philip  Freneau,  Class  of  1771. 

The  college  had  not  been  settled  in  its  new 
home  a  year,  when  it  was  saddened  by  the  death 
of  President  Burr.  He  had  all  of  that  charm- 
ing personality  and  grace  of  manner  which  so 
distinguished  his  brilliant  son.  His  tomb  is  in 
the  Princeton  graveyard,  that  "  Westminster 
Abbey  of  America,"  as  it  has  been  called,  and 
the  moss-grown  letters  of  the  inscription  bear 
eloquent  testimony  to  the  affectionate  regard 
which  he  inspired  : 

"  O  infandum  sui  Desiderium 

Gemit  Ecclesia,  plorat 

Academia  ; 

Ait  Coelum  plaudit,  dum  ille 

Ingreditur 

In  Gaudium  Domini." 

29 


30 


PRINCETOl^     SKETCHES. 


For  the  next  decade  a  singular  fatality  seemed 
to  hang  over  the  presidential  office.  Jonathan 
Edwards  was  called  from  Massachusetts,  and 
took  charge  of  the  college  in  January,  1758. 
He  had  just  crowned  his  reputation  as  a 
pulpit  orator  and    thinker  by  publishing   his 

treatise  on  The  Free- 
dom  of  the    Will, 
which  gave  him 
a  place  at  once 
among  the  first 
philosophers  of 
the  world,  and 
w^hich  still  holds 
its    position    as 
the  greatest  met- 
aphysical  work 
America  has  pro- 
duced.     During 
the  few  months 
his     term    his 

PRESIDENT    JONATHAN    EDWARDS.      (^Qlirse        witll         tllP 

Senior  class  produced  so  profound  an  impression 
"that  they  spoke  of  it  with  the  greatest  satis- 
faction and  wonder."  He  had  just  begun  his 
administration  under  the  happiest  auspices, 
when  an  unsuccessful  inoculation  brought  on  a 
disease  from  which  he  died  on  the  22d  of  March. 


THE  REVOLUTION.  33 

He  was  in  Princeton  only  long  enough  to  leave 
her  the  heritasre  of  his  name. 

In  rapid  succession  the  illustrious  names  of 
Samuel  Davies  and  Samuel  Finley*  were  writ- 

*  The  following  quaint  letter  from  President  Finley  to  the  Rev, 
Eliezer  Wheelock,  who  was  the  founder  of  Dartmouth  College,  is  in 
the  possession  of  the  college  : — 

Prinxeton,  Dec.   13,   1761. 
Revd.  &  Dr.  Br. 

I  thank  you  for  your  Favour  by  Mr.  Pomroy  &  your  son,  I 
am  also  under  obligations  for  other  like  Favours,  to  which  my  con- 
stant Hurry,  or  want  of  Opportunity,  prevented  making  any  Return. 
Indeed,  Hurry  has  been  for  years  my  constant  plea  ;  &  is  so  now. 

Wou'd  have  wrote  you  a  line  in  ye  Fall,  but  heard  you  was  to 
be  this  way  in  October,  which  prevented  me.  I  examined  your  Son, 
&  tho'  he  was  less  prepared  than  ye  Rest  of  his  Class,  yet  consider- 
ing his  age  &  good  sense,  I  concluded  he  wou'd  make  a  pretty  good 
Figure  in  it,  after  some  time,  shou'd  God  grant  him  Health  to  Study: 
&  so  admitted  him.  And  I  can  honestly  say,  yt  his  being  your  Son 
had  no  small  influence  on  me  ;  &  you  may  assure  yourself,  dear  Sir, 
yt  your  recommendations  at  any  Time,  will  tveigh  heavy  wth.  me. 

I  have  not  had  opportunity  to  consult  ye  Commissioners  for  In- 
dian Affairs  ;  but,  if  they  are  enabled  to  Support  two  at  College  I 
have  not  ye  least  Doubt  of  their  Compliance  with  your  Proposal.  I 
speak  dubiously  because  I  have  not  yet  got  into  ye  State  of  affairs,  & 
have  none  present  of  whom  to  enquire.  I  shall  do  all  in  my  Power 
for  your  Son's  welfare. 

As  to  ye  State  of  our  College  Mr.  Pomroy  can  inform  you.  May 
ye  Lord  Jesus  be  with  you,  &  prosper  your  Undertakings  !  If  God 
help  me  not  I  surely  Sink. 

I   am 
[superscription.]  Your  affectionate  Br. 

To  The  Revd.  &  very  hble.  Servt. 

Mr.  Eliezer  Wheelock  Saml.  Finley. 

at  Lebannon 

In  Connecticut. 
By  favr.  of  ye 

Revd.  Mr.  Benjamin  I'omroy. 


34  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

ten  on  tlie  roll  of  our  Presidents,  until  in  1768 
Di".  John  Witbers[)oon,  the  great  War  Presi- 
dent, was  called  to  the  chair. 

It  scarcely  needed  the  presence  and  example 
of  so  distinguished  a  Son  of  Liberty  to  arouse 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  student  body  in  the  great 
conflict  which  was  rapidly  coming  to  a  crisis. 
Newsletters  and  the  little  weekly  papers  of  the 
neighboring  cities  were  eagerly  read.  Scarcely 
a  day  but  some  traveller  climbed  down  from  a 
dusty  coach  with  new  stories  of  oppressive 
measures  in  Boston  or  patriotic  resolutions 
passed  by  the  Bui-gesses  of  Vii-ginia.  The  little 
band  of  patriots  in  Nassau  Hall  were  true  to  the 
inspiration  of  that  name.  We  catch  glimpses 
of  excited  discussions  around  the  great  log  fires 
of  the  inns,  and  fiery  orations  in  the  newly 
organized  debating  societies.  Occasionally  more 
positive  demonstrations  were  indulged  in. 

In  July,  1770,  when  the  news  came  that  the 
merchants  of  New  Yoi-k  had  broken  through 
their  i-esolutions  not  to  import,  there  was  great 
indignation  at  Princeton.  A  solemn  procession 
was  formed.  The  students,  clad  in  black  gowns, 
assembled  in  the  centre  of  the  college  yard,  and 
there,  with  fitting  ceremonies,  the  bell  tolling, 
they  burned  the  letter  which  asked  the  mer- 
chants of  Philadelphia  to  concur  in  the  action  of 


iT3 


THE   REVOLUTION.  37 

New  York.  All  the  students  of  this  patriotic 
assembly,  we  are  informed  in  a  letter  written 
by  James  Madison,  were  clad  in  American 
cloth.  Among  their  number  were  a  score  of 
men  who  were  to  rise  to  distinguished  positions 
in  the  State.  That  little  group  of  about  a 
hundred  undergraduates  sent  four  men  to  the 
Continental  Congress,  two  to  the  Constitutional 
Convention,  and  eleven  to  the  Federal  Congress. 
It  contained  five  distinguished  Judges,  four  Gov- 
ernors of  States,  one  Attorney-General,  a  Vice- 
President  and  a  President  of  the  United  States. 

During  this  period  Philip  Freneau  had  begun 
to  write  those  Poems  of  the  Revolution,  which 
made  his  name  a  household  word  through  the 
years  of  that  struggle.  On  the  commencement 
stage  of  1771,  he  joined  with  Hugh  Bracken- 
ridge  in  a  poetic  dialogue  on  "  The  Rising 
Glory  of  America."  No  less  than  sixteen  of 
the  poems  published  in  his  own  edition  of  1795, 
were  written  while  in  college.  Freneau  was  a 
classmate  and  close  friend  of  Madison,  and, 
down  to  the  time  of  his  death  in  1832,  was  ac- 
customed to  entertain  his  friends  with  stories 
of  their  college  life,  which,  unfortunately,  have 
not  been  preserved. 

In  January,  1774,  there  was  another  patriotic 
outbreak.     It   was    the   time    when    Governor 


38  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

Hutchinson,  of  Massachusetts,  was  making  his 
unenviable  reputation,  and  fighting  the  battles 
of  tea  with  Boston.  A  raid  was  made  on  the 
steward's  quarters,  and  his  entire  winter's  store 
of  tea  carried  oft'  to  the  campus.  "  AVe  there 
burned  near  a  dozen  pounds,  tolled  the  bell, 
and  made  many  spirited  resolves."  The  efligy 
of  Mr.  Hutchinson,  a  canister  about  his  neck, 
burned  merrily  Avith  the  tea. 

It  would  require  a  large  number  of  volumes 
to  record  the  deeds  of  the  Princeton  men  during 
the  war.  Two  of  her  graduates  and  thi'ee  of 
her  officers  signed  the  immortal  Declaration, 
nine  of  the  fifteen  college  graduates  in  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention  owed  allegiance  to  Nas- 
sau Hall,  and  even  a  catalogue  of  her  sons  who 
brought  honor  to  her  name  in  field  and  forum 
would  become  tedious. 

One  staunch  and  rugged  figure,  however, 
stands  out  so  prominently,  and  with  so  striking 
a  personality,  that  he  has  identified  himself  in- 
separably with  the  history  of  his  country  and 
his  college.  Six  feet  tall  and  splendidly  pro- 
portioned, he  is  said  to  have  l)een  second  only 
to  Washington  in  bearing  and  presence.  His 
portrait  in  Nassau  Hall  shows  a  face  with 
strongly  marked  features,  a  massive  chin,  a 
broad   forehead,  and    an   eye  full  of   fire    and 


THE  REVOLUTION.  39 


decision.  John  Witberspoon  joined  in  the  first 
call  for  a  Provincial  Congress  of  New  Jersey, 
and  took  an  active  part  in  preparing  her  repub- 
lican constitution.  In  June,  1776,  he  was  sent 
as  a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress,  where 
he  championed  the  then  doubtful  cause  of  inde- 


PRESIDENT    JOHN    WITHF.RSPOON. 

pendence.  When  a  timid  member  suggested  to 
him  that  the  colonies  were  not  yet  ripe  for  that 
step,  he  ans\vered,  with  characteristic  Scotch 
vigor:  "In  my  judgment,  sir,  we  ai'e  not  only 
ripe,  l)ut  rotting." 

When  the  Declaration  Avas  nnder  del)ate,  and 
the    House    ^vas    hesitating,    Dr.    Witherspoon 


40  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 


arose,  and,  iu  tlie  words  of  an  eye-witness, 
"  cast  on  the  assembly  a  look  of  inexpressible 
interest  and  unconquerable  determination,  while 
on  his  visasre  the  hue  of  ao:e  was  lost  in  the 
flush  of  burning  patriotism  that  fired  his  cheek." 
He  closed  his  appeal  with  these  words : 

"  For  my  own  part,  of  property  I  have  some,  of  repu- 
tation more.  That  reputation  is  staked,  that  property  is 
pledged,  on  the  issue  of  this  contest ;  and  although  these 
gray  hairs  must  soon  descend  into  the  sepulchre,  I  would 
infinitely  rather  that  they  descend  thither  by  the  hand  of 
the  executioner  than  desert  at  this  crisis  the  sacred  cause 
of  my  country." 

An  incident  ^vhich  occurred  a  few  weeks 
after  the  Declaration  was  published,  shows  how 
President  Witherspoon's  services  to  liberty 
were  recognized,  both  by  friends  and  foes.  The 
British  troops  of  Staten  Island  arranged  a  little 
anto  da  fe.  Eftigies  of  the  three  Generals, 
Washington,  Lee,  and  Putnam,  were  planted  in 
a  row,  and  before  them  the  commanding  figure 
of  the  venerable  Doctor,  who  was  represented 
as  reading  an  address  to  his  compatriots.  The 
soldiers  crowded  around  to  enjoy  the  rigor 
moi'tis  of  the  unfortunate  gentlemen,  and  found 
great  satisfaction  in  hurling  imprecations  at 
"the  rebels,"  as  they  suffered  the  agonies  of 
translation. 


THE  REVOLUTION.  43 


The  central  position  of  Pj'inceton,  and  the  bold 
stand  taken  by  the  cluster  of  influential  men  re- 
siding here,  drew  upon  the  devoted  village  more 
than  her  share  of  attention  from  the  enemy. 

For  three  years  after  the  opening  of  hostili- 
ties no  commencements  were  held.  The  few 
students  who  remained  to  pursue  their  studies 
were  voted  their  degrees  at  meetings  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  held  as  opportunity  offered. 
The  President,  with  other  officers  of  the  college, 
was  engrossed  in  public  services,  and  a  large 
number  of  students  were  fighting  in  the  ranks. 
At  one  time  the  number  of  undei'gi'aduates  was 
reduced  to  ten.  New  Jersey  was  a  battle-ground, 
and  as  the  tide  of  war  swept  back  and  forth 
along  the  old  highway,  Nassau  Hall  afforded 
barrack-room,  first  for  one  army,  and  then  the 
other.  There  was  never  a  time,  however,  when 
some  members  of  the  Faculty  were  not  engaged 
in  giving  instruction  to  those  who  remained, 
and  on  each  succeeding  year  a  few  degrees 
were  conferred. 

On  the  first  of  January,  1777,  a  brigade  of  Hes- 
sian troops  arrived  at  Princeton,  and  were  quar- 
tered in  the  church  and  college.  The  recitation 
rooms  in  the  basement  were  used  to  stable  the 
horses,  and  the  benches  carried  upstairs  for 
firewood. 


44  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

Early  on  the  morniug  of  the  third,  the  col- 
umn set  out  to  join  Cornwallis  at  Trenton.  The 
American  army,  shut  in  by  the  Delaware,  was 
to  be  crushed  that  day,  and  the  war  ended. 
The  whole  ^vorld  knows  how  Washington,  leav- 
ing his  camp-fires  burning  to  deceive  the  enemy, 
swept  around  his  flank,  and  fell  upon  the  bri- 
gade at  Princeton. 

The  first  regiment  of  the  Hessians  had  reached 
Stony  Brook  by  the  lower  road,  when  they 
encountered  in  the  gray  dawn  the  troops  of 
General  Mercer,  who  had  come  to  destroy  the 
bridge,  and  hinder  a  pui'suit  by  Cornwallis.  A 
sharp  contest,  and  the  enemy  were  driven  back 
throu2:li  the  town  to  the  collesfe.  The  main 
column  of  AVashington's  army  found  the  rest  of 
the  brigade  drawn  up  along  the  ridge  just  west 
of  the  present  seminary  grounds.  Before  an  at- 
tack could  be  made  they  retreated  to  Nassau 
Hall,  where  doors  were  barricaded  and  win- 
dows broken  out,  in  preparation  for  defence. 
Here,  again,  they  made  no  serious  stand,  but  on 
Washington's  advance  broke  into  open  retreat. 
Some  cannon  shots  fired  by  the  Americans  left 
marks  on  the  walls,  which  can  still  be  seen,  and 
one  ball,  entering  the  chapel  window,  crashed 
through  a  full-length  portrait  of  George  II.,  re- 
moving his  Majesty's  head.     Washington  hur- 


THE   OLD    CANNON. 


THE  REVOLUTION.  47 

rieil  on  to  Morristown,  where  he  went  into 
winter  quarters,  but  the  sick  and  wounded 
were  left  at  Princeton,  and  Nassau  Hall  was 
used  as  a  hospital  for  six  or  eight  months.  In 
the  desperate  fighting  at  Stony  Brook  General 
Mercer  fell,  mortally  wounded.  The  old  Hale 
house  is  still  standing  on  the  battle-field,  and 
the  curious  visitor  can  see  the  bullet  marks  on 
the  woodwork,  and  the  room  in  which  General 
Mercer  died.  The  battle  left  as  a  legacy  two 
British  cannon,  both  of  which  have  had  an 
eventful  history,  and  one  of  which  has  become 
the  great  totem  of  the  college. 

When  the  enemy  finally  left  New  Jersey,  the 
college  was  a  complete  wreck.  Every  accessible 
piece  of  wood,  even  to  the  flooring,  had  been 
used  as  firewood.  All  the  ornaments,  collec- 
tions, and  scientific  apparatus  were  entirely 
destroyed.  The  library  was  burned  or  carried 
off,  and  years  afterward  some  of  its  volumes 
were  found  in  North  Carolina,  where  they  had 
been  left  by  soldiei-s  in  Cornwallis'  army.  The 
Trustees  at  once  took  steps  to  repair  the  ruins, 
but  the  funds  had  fallen,  and  so  late  as  1782 
only  a  few  rooms  in  the  basement  and  one 
or  two  above  were  fit  to  use.  The  rest  of 
the  building  remained  ruinous  and  tenantless. 
The  Marquis  de  Chastellux,  visiting  Princeton 


48  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 


about  this  time,  t'oimd  only  forty  students 
enrolled. 

The  commencement  of  1783  was  a  notable 
event  in  the  history  of  the  college,  and  heralded 
the  advent  of  a  brighter  era.  Congress  was 
then  holding  its  sessions  in  the  library  room  of 
Nassau  Hall,  and  as  a  coui'tesy  to  their  Presi- 
dent, Elias  Boudinot,  who  was  a  Trustee,  and  to 
the  college  which  had  placed  its  rooms  at  their 
disposal,  the  delegates,  a  number  of  whom  were 
Piinceton  men,  resolved  to  adjourn,  and  attend 
commencement  in  a  body.  An  extended  stage 
was  erected  in  the  church  to  accommodate  the 
distinguished  guests.  On  it  were  seated  the 
Trustees  and  the  graduating  class,  the  whole  of 
the  Congress,  the  Ministers  of  France  and 
Holland,  and  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
American  Army.  Ashbel  Green,  afterwards 
President  of  the  college,  was  valedictorian. 
He  closed  his  oration  with  an  address  to  George 
AVashington,  which  seems  to  have  sustained 
Princeton's  reputation  for  effective  eloquence. 
The  General,  with  characteristic  modesty, 
blushed  deeply,  and,  meeting  the  orator  next  day, 
congratulated  him  in  such  flattering  terms  that 
the  valedictorian  was  [)ut  to  the  blush  himself. 

At  this  time  General  Washington  begged  the 
honor    of    presenting    the    college    with    fifty 


THE  REVOLUTION.  49 


giUDeas.  The  Trustees  accepted  the  gift,  and 
voted  to  expend  it  in  a  portrait  of  the  General, 
to  be  painted  by  Peale,  of  Philadelphia.  The 
picture  is  full  length,  and  represents  the  battle 
of  Princeton  in  the  background.  It  still  hangs 
in  the  room  where  Congress  met,  adorning  the 
fi'ame  which  was  occupied  by  G-eorge  11. ,  before 
that  gentleman,  in  the  excitement  of  the  mo- 
ment, lost  his  head  at  the  battle  of  Princeton. 

The  closing  years  of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  ad- 
ministration were  devoted  to  those  prosaic 
labors  which  repair  the  i-avages  of  war.  The 
minutes  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  are  full  of 
orders  for  restoring  the  buildings  and  schemes 
for  filling  the  empty  treasury.  The  venerable 
President  retired  to  Tusculum,  his  country- 
place,  about  a  mile  from  the  college,  and  found 
a  partial  relief  from  ceaseless  activity  in  enjoy- 
ing to  some  extent,  to  use  his  own  phrase,  a  life 
of  otium  cum  dignitate.  With  advancing  age, 
his  eyes  [)aid  the  penalty  for  excessive  labors, 
and  the  last  days  of  the  old  patriot  were  passed 
in  blindness,  a  trial  which  he  endured  with 
Miltonic  heroism. 

No  place  in  America  is  more  charged  with 
memories  of  the  Revolution  than  Princeton. 
The  houses  which  the  heroes  of  that  struggle 
honored  by  their  presence  are  still  pointed  out. 


50  PRINCETON     SKETCHES. 


Every  entering  student  must  go  over  tlie  battle- 
field and  see  just  where  the  war  for  American 
independence  was  decided.  The  mossy  stones 
of  the  ancient  burying-ground  bear  names  made 
familiar  by  the  great  struggle.  The  old  cannons 
speak  of  the  days  when  they  knew  the  smell  of 
powder,  and  Nassau  Hall,  second  only  in  the 
wealth  of  its  associations  to  Independence  Ilall, 
seems  to  look  out  from  every  antique  ^villd()W 
with  a  consciousness  of  its  dignity  and  service 
in  a  former  day.  It  is  not  strange  that  Avith 
such  an  atmosphere  and  such  ti'aditions,  Prince- 
ton men  have  learned  to  consider  the  claims  of 
their  country,  and  have  for  a  century  and  a  half 
distinguished  themselves  in  her  service. 


III. 


THE    HALLS. 

The  young  patriots  of  Princeton  found  it 
impossible  to  live  without  a  forum.  The  col- 
lege had  from  the  first  given  particular  atten- 
tion to  training  for  public  speaking.  As  early 
as  1750,  a  Freshman  writes  that  they  were 
required  to  "■  dispute  once  every  week  after  the 
syllogistic  manner,"  and  shortly  after  we  find 
the  Seniors  delivering  monthly  orations.  The 
short  administration  of  President  Davies  materi- 
ally strengthened  and  confii'med  this  tendency. 
Himself  a  finished  orator,  and  the  most  eloquent 
preacher  of  his  day  in  America,  he  communi- 
cated to  the  students  much  of  his  own  enthusiasm 
for  the  ars  artium.  It  was  at  the  commence- 
ment of  1760,  a  year  after  President  Davies' 
inauguration,  that  "  Mr.  Benjamin  Rush  arose, 
and  in  a  very  sprightly  and  entertaining  Man- 
ner delivered  an  ingenious  Harangue  in  Praise 
of  Oratory.  Then  followed  a  Forensick  Dis- 
pute in  English,  in  which  it  was  held  that  'The 

53 


54  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

Elec^ance  of  an  Oration  nuich  consists  in  the 
words  being  Consonant  to  the  Sense.'  "  "  The 
elegant,  pathetic  valedictory  oration,"  which 
concluded  the  exercises,  adds  its  testimony  to-- 
the  fact  that  the  art  of  speaking  was  at  that 
time  very  generally  and  successfully  cultivated. 
It  was  among  such  a  body  of  orators,  fired  l)y 
the  burning  questions  of  the  time,  that  Prince- 
ton's venerable  halls  had  their  l)irth.  These 
organizations  were  first  known  as  the  Plain 
Dealing  and  the  Well  Meaning  Societies.  Un- 
fortunately, the  records  of  the  early  societies 
have  perished,  and  the  exact  dates  and  circum- 
stances of  their  origin  cannot  be  positively 
determined.  Dr.  Giger,  in  his  History  of  the 
CUosophic  Society,  proves  conclusively  that  the 
Well  Meaning  Society  was  in  existence  in  1765, 
and  presents  evidence  of  its  foundation  in  that 
year  by  William  Patterson  and  others.  Dr. 
Cameron,  the  historian  of  the  American  AVhig 
Society,  says  of  the  Plain  Dealing  Club  :  "  We 
are  satisfied  that  it  was  in  existence  in  1763 
and  was  founded  at  an  earlier  date,  probably  in 
1760."  Whatever  the  birthdays  of  these  club?' 
may  have  been,  there  is  no  doubt  that  for  some 
years  they  flourished  side  by  side,  and  devoted 
themselves  mainly  to  the  discussion  of  political 
questions.     The  rivaliy  soon  became  so  intense, 


THE   HALLS.  57 


however,  that  their  discussions  assumed  a  de- 
cidedly local  character.  The  battles  of  Fred- 
erick the  Great,  and  the  right  of  Parliament  to 
tax  the  colonies,  were  alike  forgotten  in  a 
"  paper  war,"  of  which  only  the  distant  echoes 
have  reached  us.  Fierce  satires  and  innumer- 
able lampoons  were  exchanged  by  the  combat- 
ants, to  the  great  edification  of  the  college  at 
large.  We  cannot  find  just  what  the  casus  belli 
was,  and  indeed  one  of  the  spectators  of  the 
strife,  writing  under  the  name  of  . "  Censor," 
assures  us  that  after  conversing  with  persons  in 
as  well  as  out  of  the  societies,  he  was  utterly 
unable  to  learn  the  cause  of  all  this  "  clatter  of 
violence." 

The  Faculty  finally  decided  that  the  only  way 
to  restore  peace  was  to  kill  the  societies,  and 
consequently  an  edict  was  issued  some  time  in 
the  )^ear  1768,  closing  their  doors.  The  only 
relic  of  their  existence  which  has  survived  the 
la[)se  of  time  is  a  quaint  old  diploma,  issued  by 
the  Plain  Dealing  Club  in  1 766. 

"  OMNIBUS    ET    SINGULIS 

"  Has  literas  lecturis,  notiim  sit,  quod  Josephus  Has- 
brouck:,  a.  B.,  perdigne  se  gessit  dum  inter  nos  versatus 
fuit,  et  proeterea  quamdiii  se  ita  gesserit,  omnia  ejusdeni 
privilegia  jure  sibi  vindicet.     Cujus  sigillum  commune 


58  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 


Plain    Dealing    Club,    nominaque    nostra    subscripta 
Testimonium  sint." 

[seal.]  [signatures.] 

"Datum  Plain  Dealing  Hall  in  Aula  Nassovica 
quarto  calendas  Octobris,  Anno  Aerae  Christi  millesimo 
septingentesimo  et  sexagesimo  sexto." 

For  about  a  year  there  were  no  societies,  but 
after  tbe  smolve  of  tlie  battle  had  cleared  away 
and  the  passion  of  the  "  paper  war  "  was  in  a 
measure  forgotten,  they  were  permitted  to 
revive  again  under  different  names.  On  June 
24,  1769,  James  Madison,  with  some  of  the 
members  of  the  Plain  Dealing  Club  and  some 
other  students,  foi'iiied  the  American  Whig 
Society.  On  the  eighth  of  June,  1 770,  seventeen 
under-graduates  met  and  reorganized  the  Well 
Meanino;  Club  under  the  name  of  the  Clio- 
sophic  Society. 

For  fifty  years,  these  dates  of  1769  and  1770, 
resj^ectively,  appeared  on  the  diplomas  and 
medals  of  the  reorganized  societies  as  the  years 
of  institution.  In  1820,  laowever,  the  Clio- 
sophic  Society  decided  to  assume  the  date  of 
the  foundation  of  the  parent  club,  and  since 
that  time  has  written  Funditur  1765.  The 
AVhigs  have  never  seen  fit  to  follow  this  exam- 
ple, partly  because  it  is  impossible  to  determine 


THE  HALLS.  59 


the  exact  year  in  wliicli  the  Plain  Dealing  Club 
was  founded,  and  partly  because  they  are  con- 
tent to  point  to  the  reorgauizers  of  1769  as  their 
charter  members.  Both  societies  are  fortunate 
in  the  illustrious  coterie  of  men  whose  names 
head  their  rolls. 

The  rechristened  societies  were  received  into 
the  favor  of  the  Faculty,  and  assigned  rooms  on 
the  fourth  (now  the  third)  floor  of  the  college. 
Shortly  after,  the  "  paper  war  "  broke  out  again, 
though  in  a  milder  form.  Lampoons  were  read 
before  the  college  in  the  Prayer  Hall,  or  posted 
up  on  the  doors.  Some  idea  of  these  2:)roduc- 
tions  may  be  formed  from  the  following  speci- 
men, written  by  Philip  Freneau,  the  poet  of  the 
Revolution,  in  honor  of  an  unfortunate  member 
of  the  Cliosophic  Society. 


THE    DISTREST    ORATOR. 

"  Occasioned  by  R.  A 's  memory  failing  him  in 

the  midst  of  a  public  discourse  he  had  got  by  rote." 

Six  weeks  and  more  he  taxed  his  brain, 
And  wrote  petitions  to  the  Muses — 
Poor  Archibald !  't  was  all  in  vain, 

For  what  they  lent  your  memory  loses. 
Now  hear  the  culprit's  self  confess 
In  strain  of  woe,  his  sad  distress  : 


6o  PRIMCETOt^  SKETCHES. 

"  I  went  upon  the  public  stage, 

I  flounced  and  floundered  in  a  rage, 

I  gabbled  like  a  goose  ; 
I  talked  of  custom,  fa}ne  and  fas/iiofi, 
Of  moral  evil  and  compassion  ; 
And  pray  what  more  ? 

"  My  words  were  few,  I  must  confess, 
And  very  silly  my  address — 

A  melancholy  tale  ! 
In  short,  I  knew  not  what  to  say, 
I  squinted  this  and  the  other  way. 
Like  Lucifer. 

"  '  Alack-a-day  !  my  friends,'  quoth  I, 
'  I  guess  you  '11  get  no  more  from  me — 
In  troth  I  have  forgot  it  !  ' 

0  !  my  oration  !  thou  art  fled, 
And  not  a  trace  within  my  head 

Remains  to  me. 

"  What  could  be  done  ?     I  gaped  once  more, 
And  set  the  audience  in  a  roar  ; 
They  laughed  me  out  of  face. 

1  turned  my  eyes  from  north  to  south, 
I  clapped  my  fingers  in  my  mouth, 

And  down  I  came  ! 

Many  a  modern  Clio  and  Whig  who  reads 
these  lines  will  smile  as  he  recalls  his  own 
maiden  efforts,  and  reflect  that  times  have  not 
changed  so  much  after  all. 


THE   HALLS.  6 1 


These  mimic  battles  were  soon  obscured 
under  the  shadow  of  a  more  portentous  war- 
cloud.  On  the  29th  of  November,  1776,  tidings 
reached  the  college  of  the  approach  of  the 
enemy. 

"  Our  worthy  President,  deeply  affected  by  the  solemn 
scene,  entered  the  hall  where  the  students  were  collected, 
and,  in  a  very  affecting  manner,  informed  us  of  the  im- 
probability of  continuing  there  longer  in  peace  ;  and  after 
giving  us  several  suitable  instructions  and  much  good  ad- 
vice, very  affectionately  bade  us  farewell.  Solemnity  and 
distress  appeared  in  almost  every  countenance.  Several 
students  that  had  come  five  or  six  hundred  miles,  and 
just  got  settled  in  college,  were  now  obliged,  under  every 
disadvantage,  to  return  with  their  effects,  or  leave  them 
behind,  which  several,  through  the  impossibility  of  getting 
a  carriage  at  so  confused  a  time,  were  obliged  to  do,  and 
lost  their  all." 

In  the  general  confusion,  the  halls  did  not 
escape.  Although  something  in  the  way  of 
college  instruction  was  en  evidence  throughout 
the  war,  and  degrees  were  given  to  a  few  stu- 
dents every  year,  the  halls  were  entirely  discon- 
tinued, and  when  peace  was  finally  restored, 
the  few  hall  men  who  remained  in  connection 
with  the  college  returned  to  find  those  sacred 
chambers  ^vhicl^  had  guarded  their  mysteries  in 
sad  and  utter  ruin. 


62  PRINCETON    SKETCHES. 


Clio  was  the  first  to  revnv^e.  Her  old  room 
was  repaired,  and  on  July  4,  1781,  the  first 
meeting  was  held  and  the  work  of  the  society 
resumed.  The  Revolution  almost  destroyed  the 
Whig  Society.  There  were  but  two  Whigs  in 
the  class  of  1781,  and  in  1782  but  one  member 
of  the  hall  in  college.  In  the  spring  of  that 
year,  however,  the  society  was  revived,  and  met 
in  the  colleo^e  library  until  their  room  was  re- 
paired. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1783,  at  the  celebration 
of  the  national  Jubilee,  the  halls  for  the  first 
time  elected  an  orator  to  represent  them  before 
a  public  audience.  The  orators  of  the  day  spoke 
before  Congress,  which  was  then  sitting  at 
Princeton,  and  afterwards  dined  with  its  Presi- 
dent, and  other  invited  guests,  at  Morven,  the 
old  Stockton  homestead.  From  this  time  do^V'n 
until  1840,  the  halls  united  in  selecting  a  man 
to  read  the  Declaration  of  Independence  on  each 
returning  Liberty  Day.  The  custom  of  aj^point- 
ing  four  orators  from  each  hall  to  represent  it 
on  the  evening  before  commencement,  originated 
some  time  between  1783  and  1792.  Until  1865, 
these  orators  were  elected  by  vote  of  their  ]-e- 
spective  halls.  Old  graduates  tell  of  the  notable 
canvasses  and  elaborate  intrigues  by  which 
oratorical  aspirants  sought  to  gain  the  coveted 


THE  HALLS.  65 


honor.  To  remedy  the  evils  growing  out  of  this 
method,  in  1804  it  was  decided  to  choose  the 
orators  in  a  contest  before  Judges  elected  from 
the  graduate  members  of  hall.  Tliis  plan  con- 
tinues to  give  complete  satisfaction.  Shortly 
after  this  change,  a  further  stimulus  was  given 
by  offering  four  medals  to  be  contested  for  by 
the  speakers,  and  the  Maclean  Prize  of  $100  to 
be  awarded  for  the  best  written  oration.  In 
1870  Mr.  Charles  R.  Lynde  presented  to  the 
college  the  sum  of  $5,000,  the  interest  of  which 
is  divided  into  three  prizes,  to  be  competed  for 
annually  by  three  senior  debaters  chosen  from 
each  hall.  There  are,  of  course,  a  number  of 
other  prizes  offered  by  the  college  for  excellence 
in  writing,  speaking,  poetry,  and  debate;  but 
although  hall  emulation  extends  to  the  contests 
for  them,  the  prizes  themselves  are  offered  to 
the  college  at  large.  Each  hall  has  also  an 
elaborate  "■  prize  system,"  by  which  it  seeks  to 
stimulate  its  own  members  to  their  best  work. 

The  fire  of  1802  brought  another  heavy  dis- 
aster upon  the  societies.  Their  rooms  were  just 
under  the  belfry  where  the  conflagration  bi-oke 
out,  and  their  property,  including  many  valu- 
al)le  records,  was  almost  completely  destroyed. 
Old  Nassau  Hall  seems  to  be  rather  indifferent 
to  fire,  though,  and  it  was  only  a  short  time 


66  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

before  the  gutted  rooms  a\  ere  repaired,  and  fiir- 
nislied  with  an  increased  splendor.  AVe  have 
an  account  of  the  appearance  of  Clio  in  1805, 
as  it  came  from  the  hands  of  the  renovators. 

"  There  were  four  raised  platforms,  one  on  each  side. 
On  the  north  side  were  the  chairs  and  desks  of  the  prin- 
cipal officers,  upholstered  with  red  damask.  Settees 
were  placed  against  the  walls,  and  chairs  formed  the 
other  seats.  The  floor  was  covered  with  an  expensive 
carpet.  The  window  curtains  were  of  white  dimity  and 
red  damask.  A  chandelier  was  suspended  by  iron  chains 
from  the  centre  of  the  curved  ceiling,  and  lustres  hung 
around  the  walls,  with  glass  lamps  in  the  sockets.  The 
walls  were  covered  with  velvet  paper  of  a  beautiful 
pattern.  The  room  in  summer  was  unpleasantly  hot, 
the  ventilation  being  very  imperfect,  and  when  the  mem- 
bership increased  it  became  almost  intolerable.  .  .  .  To 
crown  all,  the  roof  leaked  badly." 

The  quarters  of  Whig,  across  the  hall,  doubt- 
less shared  ^vith  those  of  Clio  both  the  elegance 
and  the  discomforts  of  this  description. 

1838  is  writ  laro-e  in  the  histories  of  the  halls. 
In  that  year  they  moved  into  those  beautiful 
Greek  temples  which  live  in  the  memories  of 
the  alumni  of  more  than  fifty  years.  They 
were  in  the  Ionic  style.  The  columns  of  the 
hexastyle  porticos  are  copied  from  those  of  a 
temple  on  the  Ilissus,  near  the  fountain  of 
Callirhoe  in  Athens.     The  temple  of  Dionysus, 


THE  HALLS.  69 


in  the  Ionian  city  of  Teos,  furnished  a  model 
for  the  buildings  in  other  respects.  Elegantly 
furnished  and  equipped  with  good  libraries, 
these  halls  formed  in  many  respects  the  centre 
of  college  life.  In  them,  generations  of  men 
have  passed  through  the  metamorphosis  from 
stammering  and  blushing  freshmen  to  suave  and 
eloquent  seniors,  and  then  gone  forth  to  honor 
their  halls  in  the  pulpit  and  at  the  bar.  Thou- 
sands of  alumni  cherish  in  the  tenderest  corner 
of  their  hearts,  memories  of  long  hours  spent 
in  the  recesses  of  the  old  libraries,  of  life-long 
friendships  formed  within  those  mysterious 
doors,  and  of  exciting  crises  on  the  floors,  when 
the  gray-haired  ministers  and  learned  Judges  of 
to-day  were  compassing  heaven  and  earth  to 
carry  a  motion  of  adjournment  or  bending  all 
their  energies  to  entangle  their  President  in  the 
meshes  of  parliamentary  law. 

The  old  halls  have  gone.  They  had  become 
inadequate  to  the  growing  needs  of  the  college, 
and  in  1889  the  work  of  demolition  was  begun. 
In  their  places,  stand  two  splendid  temples  of 
white  marble.  The  pure  Greek  of  the  old 
buildings  has  been  retained,  and  the  double 
fa9ade  on  the  southern  side  of  the  quadrangle 
looks  like  a  glimpse  of  the  Acropolis.  Within 
these  buildings  are  commodious  librai'ies,  read- 


70  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

ing-rooms,  club  rooms,  aud  in  each  a  spacious 
seuate-cLamber,  where  proper  resolutions  con- 
cerning the  great  questions  of  literature  and 
politics  will  continue  to  be  argued  and  adopted. 

In  their  origin,  the  halls  of  Princeton  have 
much  in  common  with  similar  organizations 
formed  in  the  provincial  colleges.  Harvard, 
Yale,  William  and  Mary,  and  Columbia,  all 
had  literary  clubs  foi'med  on  practically  the 
same  basis.  The  unique  thing  about  the  Prince- 
ton halls  is  that  they  seem  to  have  absorbed 
the  good  old  Calvinistic  doctrine  of  "  final  per- 
severance." Of  the  many  societies  which  were 
contemporaries  of  Clio  and  Whig  in  their 
younger  days,  not  one  remains.  They  have 
either  disappeared  altogether,  or  have  been 
absorbed  in  the  Greek-letter  fraternity  move- 
ment and  entirely  lost  their  original  character. 
Both  of  the  Princeton  halls  have  had  repeated 
requests  to  establish  chapter  houses  in  other 
colleges,  but  they  have  uniformly  refused  to 
join  the  fraternity  movement. 

The  result  has  been  most  happy  for  Princeton. 
Instead  of  a  number  of  small  competing  frater- 
nities, she  has  two  noble  and  venerable 
institutions,  large  enough  to  engage  in  heroic 
competitions  for  literary  honors  and  dignified 
enough  to  stay  out  of  petty  rivalries  in  college 


THE  HALLS.  7 1 


affairs    which  do  not   directly  affect  their  in- 
terests. 

At  each  returning  commencement,  the  fathers 
gather  to  revive  old  memories,  and  hear  what 
the  undergraduates  have  been  doing  in  the  pre- 
ceding year.  The  mysteries  which  are  concealed 
behind  those  marble  columns  and  massive  doors 
are  too  awful  to  be  divulged,  but  it  is  said  that 
inquisitive  persons  who  linger  near  the  portals, 
occasionally  hear  rumblings  of  thunder  like 
unto  the  ten-j)in  games  of  Heinrich  Hudson, 
and  the  muffled  sounds  of  voices  and  applaud- 
ing hands.  It  is  inferred  from  these  phenomena 
that  there  is  within  the  halls  some  magic  influ- 
ence which  warms  the  blood  and  rene^vs  the 
youth  of  the  gray-haired  fathei's,  and  that  the 
younger  members,  catching  the  spirit  of  their 
sires,  come  forth  with  renewed  enthusiasm  for 
their  halls,  a  veneration  for  tlieir  past,  and  an 
increased  confidence  in  their  future. 


IV. 


ANTE  BELLUM. 


During  the  last  few  years  of  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon's  presidency,  the  burden  of  administra- 
tion had  been  carried  by  the  Vice-President, 
Samuel  Stanho[)e  Smith  ;  and  on  the  death  of 
the  old  War  President  in  1794,  there  was  no 
question  as  to  who  should  be  his  successor. 

The  history  of  Princeton  can  be  rudely 
divided  into  three  epochs.  The  first,  extending 
from  its  foundation  in  1746  to  the  close  of  the 
century,  was  marked  by  a  remarkable  cluster 
of  brilliant  men  who  were  identified  with  the 
college  either  as  ofiicers  or  patrons.  In  the 
stirring  events  of  that  heroic  age,  these  men 
rose  to  an  eminence  which  o-ave  their  colle2;e  a 
singular  prestige  throughout  all  the  colonies, 
and  even  beyond  the  sea.  Her  reputation  re- 
ceived added  lustre  from  the  young  alumni,  an 
unusually  large  proportion  of  whom  became 
men  of  distinction  and  wide  influence.  George 
Washington,    writing   to   his    adopted    son,   a 

72 


ANTE   BELLUM.  73 

student  in  Princeton  at  the  time,  after  referring 
to  some  change  in  the  course  of  study  which 
had  been  recommended  by  one  of  the  tutors, 
says: 

Mr.  Lewis  was  educated  at  Yale  college,  and,  as  is 
natural,  may  be  prejudiced  in  favor  of  the  mode  pursued 
at  that  seminary  ;  but  no  college  has  turned  out  better 
scholars  or  more  estimable  characters  than  Nassau.  Nor 
is  there  any  one  whose  president  is  thought  more  capable 
to  direct  a  proper  system  of  education  than  Dr.  Smith." 

Similar  expressions  in  the  letters  of  other 
eminent  men  show  how  closely  Princeton,  as  an 
institution,  was  identified  with  the  life  of  the 
time. 

With  the  dawning  of  the  nineteenth  century 
began  an  epoch  of  less  dramatic  if  not  less  sub- 
stantial influence.  The  long  list  of  senators, 
governors,  cabinet  ofiicers,  judges,  and  other 
prominent  men  in  Dr.  Maclean's  history,  who 
held  diplomas  from  Princeton,  shows  that  her 
influence  had  not  abated.  At  the  same  time 
they  were  not  so  distinctively  known  as  Prince- 
ton men,  and  the  college  itself  did  not  stand  out 
so  prominently  before  the  country. 

It  must  be  confessed,  too,  that  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  century  an  unfortunate  policy  in 
the  discipline  of  the  college  had  the  effect  of 
increasing  the  disorders  it  was  intended  to  sup- 


74  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

press.  A  spirit  of  opposition  to  authority 
became  prevalent,  which  developed  at  times 
into  open  wai'fare.  Organized  rebellion  and 
wild  pranks  were  punished  with  a  Draconian 
rigor,  displaying  more  sternness  than  tact ;  and 
the  natural  result  w^as,  not  only  to  lessen  the 
enthusiasm  of  alumni,  but  also  to  perpetuate  a 
tendency  to  outbreaks,  the  reports  of  which 
injured  the  reputation  of  the  college.  The 
resf)onsibility  for  this  injudicious  course  seems 
to  have  rested  in  some  degree  with  the  Trustees. 
They  interfered  to  an  unprecedented  extent 
with  the  details  of  administration,  and  Avere 
naturally  less  competent  to  deal  with  difficult 
questions  than  the  President  and  Faculty,  who 
were  on  the  ground,  and  were  thoroughl}?^  ac- 
quainted with  all  the  aspects  of  every  case 
which  arose. 

The  temptation  to  such  outbreaks  was  greater 
then  than  it  is  now.  There  was  very  little 
athletic  w^ork  of  any  kind,  and  efforts  in  that 
direction  were  regarded  with  scant  favor  by  a 
Faculty  which  had  not  learned  the  value  of 
these  exercises  in  teaching  self-control  and  en- 
couraging a  manly  spirit.  As  a  result,  the 
irrepressible  vitality  of  healthy  young  men 
found  outlet  in  many  a  cunningly  devised  and 
daringly  executed  plot.     A  (piaint  entry  upon 


ANTE  BELLUM.  yy 

the  minutes  of  the  Faculty,  in  the  closing  years 
of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  administration,  shows  the 
attitude  of  that  body  toward  athletics,  and 
records  the  first  appearance  of  base-ball  at 
Princeton. 

"Faculty  met  Nov.  26,  1787. — It  appearing  that  a  play 
at  present  much  practiced  by  the  small  boys  among  the 
students  and  by  the  grammar  scholars  with  balls  and 
sticks,  in  the  back  campus  of  the  college,  is  in  itself  low 
and  unbecoming  gentlemen  and  students  ;  and  inasmuch 
as  it  is  attended  with  great  danger  to  the  health  by  sudden 
and  alternate  heats  and  colds  ;  as  it  tends  by  accidents 
almost  unavoidable  in  that  play  to  disfiguring  and  maim- 
ing those  who  are  engaged  in  it,  for  whose  health  and 
safety  as  well  as  improvement  in  study  as  far  as  depends 
on  our  exertion,  we  are  accountable  to  their  parents  and 
liable  to  be  severely  blamed  by  them  ;  and  inasmuch  as 
there  are  many  amusements  both  more  honorable  and 
more  useful  in  which  they  are  indulged, — Therefore  the 
Faculty  think  it  incumbent  on  them  to  prohibit  the 
students  and  grammar  scholars  from  using  the  play 
aforesaid." 

College  government,  too,  was  a  much  more 
difhcult  thing  then.  It  is  hard  for  the  under- 
graduate of  to-day,  when  the  tone  of  the  college 
is  so  distinctively  Christian,  to  realize  the  moral 
atmosphere  of  seventy-five  years  ago.  French 
philosophy  was  still  fashionable,  and  French 
skepticism    was  carefully  cherished  by   yoimg 


78  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

men  as  the  badge  of  polite  learning  and  freedom. 
The  gay  and  reckless  spirit  which  always 
accompanied  this  philosophy  of  life  was  not 
wanting.  It  was  necessary  to  ride  hard,  drink 
deep,  and  fear  nothing.  At  one  time  there  ^\  ere 
only  twelve  students  who  acknowledged  their 
adherence  to  the  old  faith,  and  even  so  late  as 
184:1,  when  the  venerable  Dr.  Theodore  Cnyler 
was  an  undergraduate,  the  little  band  of  Chris- 
tians were  dubbed  the  religiosi,  and  met  in  a 
little  room  in  the  top  of  Old  North. 

When  we  remember,  too,  that  good  prepara- 
tory schools  were  rare  then,  and  the  men  in 
college  were,  as  a  rule,  much  older  than  they 
are  now,  it  will  not  seem  strange  that  the 
enforcement  of  proper  regulations  was  no  easy 
task. 

After  the  '20's,  the  spirit  of  disorder  gradually 
subsided,  and  during  the  peaceful  reigns  of 
Presidents  Carnahan  and  Maclean,  the  college 
gathered  strength  for  the  brilliant  university 
era  which  ^vas  heralded  by  the  inauguration  of 
Dr.  McCosh,  in  1868. 

Washington  Irving's  published  works  give 
us  a  glimpse  of  the  student  life  under  Dr. 
Smith,  as  it  appeared  to  the  genial  writer  for 
Salmagundi.  Under  date  of  February  24, 1807, 
appears  "  Memorandums  for  a  Tour  to  be  Entitled 


ANTE   BELLUM. 


'The  Stranger  in  New  Jersey;  or,  Cockney 
Travelling'.'  "   Chapter  IV  is  outlined  as  follows  : 

"  Princeton — college — professors  wear  boots  ! — students 
famous  for  their  love  of  a  jest — set  the  college  on  fire  and 
burned  out  the  professors  ;  an  excellent  joke,  but  not 
worth  repeating — Mem.  American  students  very  much 
addicted  to  burning  down  colleges — reminds  me  of  a  good 
story,  nothing  at  all  to  the  purpose — two  societies  in  the 
college — good  notion — encourages  emulation,  and  makes 
little  boys  fight  ; — students  famous  for  their  eating  and 
erudition — saw  two  at  the  tavern,  who  had  just  got  their 
allowance  of  spending  money — laid  it  all  out  in  a  supper, 

got  fuddled,  and  d d  the  professors  for  nincoms,  n.  b. 

Southern  gentlemen  .  .  .  commencement  —  students 
give  a  ball  and  supper — company  from  New  York,  Phila- 
delphia and  Albany — great  contest  which  spoke  the  best 
English  .  .  .  students  can't  dance — always  set  off 
with  the  wrong  foot  foremost     ..." 

Washington  Irving  never  had  any  experience 
with  the  disciplinary  side  of  college  life,  but 
he  seems  to  have  made  up  for  it  by  a  close  and 
conscientious  study  of  its  convivial  aspects,  and 
he  and  his  jovial  confreres  were  well-known  and 
welcome  guests  at  the  ancient  Princeton  inns. 

The  most  memorable  event  in  the  annals  of 
President  Smith's  administration  was  the  de- 
struction of  Nassau  Hall  by  fire,  on  the  6th  of 
March,  1802.  The  building  was  completely  gut- 
ted, the  library  and  most  of  the  philosophical 
apparatus   destroyed,   and   nothing   was  left  of 


82  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

the  college  save  the  bare,  brown  walls.  These 
old  walls,  built  of  a  ferrous  sandstone,  have 
survived  the  sack  of  the  edifice  by  the  British, 
and  two  subsequent  conflagrations.  Erected 
with  provincial  honesty,  and  of  a  material  alike 
indilfereut  to  fire  and  weather,  they  are  as 
staunch  and  clean  to-day  as  when  the  rural 
Jerseyman  came,  with  open-mouthed  wonder, 
to  the  dedication  of  the  largest  building  in 
America. 

A  thorough  investigation  was  made,  but  with- 
out finding  any  proof  of  incendiarism.  The 
Trustees  issued  an  address  to  the  "inhabitants 
of  the  United  States,"  asking  for  aid ;  the 
President  returned  from  a  western  and  southern 
tour  with  $40,000,  and  in  a  short  time  the 
collesre  was  rebuilt  in  a  substantial  manner. 

At  the  commencement  of  1806,  fifty-four  men 
were  graduated,  the  largest  class  down  to  that 
time.  There  were  about  two  hundred  men  in 
college  ;  the  number  of  students  was  constantly 
increasing,  and  the  outlook  was  very  gratifying, 
when  suddenly  the  "  Great  Rebellion  "  of  1807 
broke  out,  in  w^hich  the  rebels  were  worsted, 
with  loss  of  half  their  number.  For  some 
reasons  not  certainly  known,  a  spirit  of  discon- 
tent had  been  growing,  which  finally  culminated 
in  open  revolt. 


ANTE  BELLUM.  85 


The  conspirators  made  their  arrangements 
with  the  boldness  and  skill  of  many  Catilines. 
Old  North  was  stocked  with  provisions  for  a 
long  siege,  troops  were  thoroughly  organized, 
and  on  a  prearranged  signal  every  door  was 
barricaded,  and  all  the  lower  windows  blocked 
with  firewood.  History  leaves  us  to  imagine 
the  onslaught  of  the  President  and  his  trusty 
cohort  of  instructors,  the  threats  of  dire  punish- 
ment, and  the  stern  defiance  hurled  from  the 
deep  embrasures  of  third-story  windows.  Within 
the  beleaguered  walls,  the  ancient  order  of  the 
Roman  Republic  was  revived  with  a  fidelity 
which  reflects  the  highest  credit  on  the  classical 
instruction  of  the  college.  Two  consuls  held 
sway  over  an  elaborately  organized  state.  It  is 
not  known  whether  internal  feuds,  famine,  or 
overwhelming  assaults  from  without  led  to 
capitulation,  but  certain  it  is,  that  after  several 
heroic  days  the  tutors  were  again  in  possession 
of  the  entries,  and  ^^  fortes  viri  of  the  repub- 
lic were  reduced  to  the  ignominious  position  of 
disorderly  students. 

A  guard  of  citizens  was  called  in  to  protect 
college  propert}^,  and  an  investigation  insti- 
tuted which  resulted  in  the  dismissal  of  a  num- 
ber of  offenders  and  the  censure  of  others.  The 
men  were  not  satisfied,  however,  and  presented 


86  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 


a  petition  which  was  regarded  by  the  Faculty 
as  offensive.  The  students  were  assembled, 
and  informed  that  the  roll  would  be  called ; 
that  every  student  might  answer  to  his  name 
and  either  separate  himself  from  the  combina- 
tion or  adhere  to  it. 

"  When  this  business  was  about  to  be  begun,  one  of  the 
leaders  of  the  association  rose  and  gave  a  signal  to  the 
rest,  and  they  rushed  out  of  the  hall  with  shouting  and 
yelling.  .  .  .  The  Faculty  declared  to  the  students 
that  those  who  were  going  in  this  riotous  manner  were 
now  suspended  from  the  College." 

Out  of  two  hundred  students,  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  were  suspended,  nearly  half  of 
whom  afterwards  returned.  Thus  ended  the 
Great  Rebellion, — a  fantastic  episode,  but  one 
which  left  a  deep  mark  on  the  college.  It  was 
many  years  before  the  catalogue  again  showed 
an  enrolment  equal  to  that  which  preceded  the 
siege  of  Old  North. 

On  the  retirement  of  President  Smith  in  1S12, 
Dr.  Ashbel  Green,  the  valedictorian  who  had 
enjoyed  the  honor  of  addressing  Washington 
and  the  Continental  Congress  in  1783,  was  unan- 
imously elected  by  the  board  to  succeed  him. 
Dr.  Green  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  oflice 
with  a  nervousness  and  trepidation  which  may 
have  contributed  a  little  to  the  realization  of 


ANTE  BELLUM.  87 


the  difficulties  he  feared.  "  My  first  address  to 
the  students,"  he  says,  "  produced  a  considerable 
impression,  insomuch  that  some  of  them  shed 
tears.  This  greatly  encouraged  me  ;  but  the 
appearance  was  delusive  or  fugitive.  Notwith- 
standing all  the  arrangements  I  had  made,  and 
all  the  pains  I  had  taken  to  convince  them  that 
their  own  good  and  the  best  interests  of  the 
institution  ^v'ere  my  only  aim,  I  had  the  mortifi- 
cation to  find  that  the  majority  of  them  seemed 
bent  on  mischief."  One  cannot  escape  the  con- 
viction that  the  oood  Doctor  exa2:2:erated  the 
situation  a  little,  for  only  a  year  or  two  before, 
a  committee  of  visitors  had  reported  "  that 
during  the  present  session  the  students  of  the 
college  have  been  in  general  attentive  to  their 
studies,  and  that  great  order  and  regularity 
have  been  observed  in  the  dininir  room."  ^ 

o 

'  The  following  letters  from  President  Green  are  interesting  as 
showing  his  views  upon  the  state  of  affairs. 

Princeton,  April  12,  1S15. 
Rkvu.  &  DEAR  Sir  : 

I  yesterday  received  three  copies  of  your  sermon  entitled  the 
"Gospel  Harvest,"  for  which  I  sincerely  thank  you.  On  the  envel- 
ope to  request  an  account  of  the  "glorious  revival"  of  religion  in 
the  college  here.  It  has  been  truly  glorious.  We  number  between 
40  &  50  hopeful  converts,  in  the  last  four  or  five  months.  But  the 
trustees  of  the  college,  at  their  last  meeting,  have  directed  me  to 
publish  the  statement  whicli  I  made  to  them  on  this  interesting  sub- 
ject.    I    am   now  preparing   it    for  the  press,    &    expect  it  will  be 


PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 


Although  from  the  first  "every  kind  of  insub- 
ordination  that  they  could  devise  was  practiced," 

published  in  a  few  days.     A  copy  shall  be  immediately  forwarded  to 
you. 

This  morning  I  have  had  the  great  gratification  to  learn,  by  a 
letter  from  Mr.  Cjallaudet  of  Hartford,  that  a  remarkable  revival  of 
religion  has  liegun  in  Vale  college.  By  his  representation  it  appears 
that  there  is  a  wonderful  similarity  between  what  is  taking  place  at 
Yale,  &  what  was  witnessed  here  in  January  last.  Labourers  in  the 
gospel  vineyard,  &  reapers  of  the  gospel  harvest,  will,  I  trust,  be  pro- 
vided by  these  dispensations  of  divine  grace  «S:  mercy.  If  any  thing 
short  of  the  power  of  God  could  convince  infidels  of  the  excellence 
of  evangelical  principles,  I  should  suppose  it  would  be  a  view  of 
the  change  which  is  made  on  the  tempers  &  in  the  lives  of  those,  On 
whose  hearts  these  principles  have  made  a  practical  impression. 
Never,  certainly,  have  I  seen  youth  so  amiable,  &  in  all  respects  so 
promising,  as  the  mass  of  those  who  now  compose  the  students  of 
Nassau  Hall.  A  year  ago  this  was  far,  very  far,  from  being  the 
fact.  The  change  has  manifestly  been  wrought  by  the  finger  of 
God,  &  to  him  be  all  the  praise. 

I  wait  with  a  degree  of  impatience  for  the  communication  which 
you  have  promised  to  make. 

With  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Morse,  I  am,  affectionately  &  sincerely 

Your  friend  &  brother 
Dr.  Morse.  A.  Green. 

Princeton,  June  14,  1S17. 
Revd.  &  dear  vSir  : 

You  are  not  ignorant  that  the  present  Vice  President  &  professor  of 
Mathematics  &  Philosophy  expects  to  vacate  his  place  in  the  college 
here,  at  the  end  of  the  present  session.  It  will  be  highly  injurious  to 
the  interests  of  the  institution,  if  the  important  professorship  in  ques- 
tion be  either  left  open,  or  badly  filled.  Yet  to  find  a  person  calcu- 
lated, in  all  respects,  to  fdl  it  advantageously,  may  be  a  matter  of  no 
small  difficulty.  Such  a  person  I  do  not  know.  I  know  a  number 
who  have  science  enough.  But  not  one  whom,  on  the  whole,  I  could 
recommend.  The  design  of  this  letter  is  to  request  you  to  look 
round  you  &  make  inquiries,  in  your  region  of  country  &  acquaint- 


ANTE   BELLUM.  89 


the  first  flagrant  outbreak  occurred  on  the  9th 
of   January,    1814,    when   "  a  little  after  nine 

ance,  for  a  suitable  man  to  take  the  place  of  professor  Slack.  As  to 
the  Vice  Presidency  I  think  it  most  probable  that  it  w  ill  be  attached 
to  Mr.  Lindsly,  if  he  will  consent  to  take  it.  It  is  much  to  be 
regretted  that  this  office  was  ever  instituted.  It  is  utterly  useless  ;  & 
it  has  proved  a  millstone  about  the  neck  of  the  present  occupant, 
which  has  had  more  influence  to  sink  him  than  every  thing  beside. 
The  contemplated  professor  ought  to  be  a  man  of  religion,  &  of  ac- 
commodating temper  &  manners  ;  &  a  young  man  will  do  better  than 
an  old  one. 

Nothing  can  exceed  the  peace  &  order  of  the  college  from  the  com- 
mencement of  the  session  till  the  present  time.  We  have  not  had  a 
case  of  discipline.  But  this  was  the  fact  also  last  winter,  till  within 
ten  days  of  the  riots.  I  hope  the  present  calm  is  not  the  precursor  of 
another  storm.  That  storm,  however,  has  not  hurt  but  helped  us. 
I  believe  there  never  was  such  an  accession  of  students  to  the  college, 
in  the  Spring  of  the  year,  since  it  existed,  as  there  has  been  this 
Spring.  The  house  is  full,  &  there  are  8  with  Mr.  Lindsly,  waiting 
to  enter.  Such  is  the  issue  of  the  gloomy  prognostications  of  some, 
who  probably  wished  what  they  foretold,  &  are  vexed  that  their  pre- 
dictions have  proved  to  be  false.  I  have  always  believed  &  said  that 
the  publick  would  bear  us  out  in  a  strict  question  of  discipline  ;  «S<: 
that  the  college  would  not  sink  but  rise  under  it.  The  late  occur- 
rence has  verified  this  opinion,  even  beyond  my  own  calculations. 
A  former  rebellion  was  the  consequence,  undoubtedly,  of  a  total 
relaxation  of  government  ;  &  the  institution  instantly  sunk  &  never 
rose  again  under  the  administration  in  which  it  occurred.  With 
these  unquestionable  facts  staring  them  in  the  face,  it  does  seem  a 
little  strange  that  certain  men  speak  &  act  as  they  do.  For  two  or 
three  weeks  past  there  has  been  an  increasing  seriousness  in  college, 
but  as  yet  there  is  nothing  more.  Whether  it  will  vanish  or  continue, 
time  alone  can  determine. 

With  affection  &  respect 

Yours  truly 
Revo.  I)k.  Jamks  Richards,  A,  Green. 

New  Ark, 

New  Jersey. 


90  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 


o'clock  the  treineudous  explosion  took  place  of 
what  has  been  denominated  the  hig  craclcerr 
At  two  o'clock  that  niorninsi:  the  oiitbuildiu2:s  of 
the  college  were  discovered  to  be  on  fire.  The 
steward,  with  the  aid  of  the  tutors  and  some 
orderly  students,  extinguished  the  flames  so 
quickly  that  the  greater  part  of  the  college 
knew  nothing  of  it.  In  the  morning  it  appeared 
that  arrangements  had  been  made  "  for  some 
mighty  work  of  mischief  "  in  the  Prayer  Hall. 
Loose  powder,  a  quantity  of  tinder,  and  a  keg 
were  found  on  the  stage  of  the  hall  before  the 
pulpit.  The  intention  had  evidently  been  to 
divert  attention  by  the  conflagration  outside, 
and  then  spring  the  mine  within.  The  day 
passed  quietly,  however,  until  about  nine 
o'clock,  when  a  tremendous  crash  shook  the 
entire  building.  The  President,  who  was  walk- 
ing in  his  study  at  the  time,  hastened  to  the 
scene.  In  the  second  entry  he  found  the  re- 
mains of  an  ''  infernal  machine,"  which  had 
been  constructed  from  the  huo;e  hub  of  a  wao-on 
wheel,  loaded  with  several  pounds  of  powder. 
The  adjacent  walls  were  cracked  from  top  to 
bottom,  nearly  all  the  glass  in  the  vicinity  was 
broken,  and  a  large  piece  of  the  bomb  had  been 
driven  through  the  door  of  the  Prayer  Hall. 
The  President  acted  with  so  much  vigor  and 


ANTE  BELLUM. 


judgment  in  discovering  and  punishing  the  per- 
petrators that  he  had  no  serious  trouble  after- 
wards. 

I  cannot  resist  the  temptation  to  quote  one 
little  incident  from  his  autobiography,  which 
throws  a  curious  light  on  the  primitive  methods 
of  discipline  in  the  days  when  there  was  no  Mat. 
Goldie,*  armed  ^vith  the  terrors  of  a  proctor's 
authority : 

"  At  length,  however,  the  disorder  was  extended  to  the 
entries  of  the  college.  When  this  took  place  I,  on  a  cer- 
tain evening,  took  a  candle  in  my  hand,  and  went  to  the 
passage  through  which  the  mass  of  students  return  from 
supper.  They  passed  me  in  perfect  silence  and  respect  ; 
but  as  soon  as  they  got  out  of  sight  in  the  upper  entries, 
some  of  them  began  the  usual  yell.  The  vice-president 
ran  through  the  crowd  and  seized  one  of  the  small  rogues 
in  the  very  act  of  clapping  and  hallooing,  took  him  up  in 
his  arms,  and  brought  him  through  the  whole  corps,  and 
set  him  down  before  me,  as  I  stood  with  the  candle  in  my 
hand,  talking  to  a  crowd  that  I  had  called  about  me.  I 
seized  the  opportunity  to  address  them  at  some  length, 
and  to  endeavor  to  reason,  to  shame,  and  to  intimidate 
them  out  of  their  folly.  ...  It  certainly  had  a  good 
effect." 

The  close  of  the  college  year  witnessed  an- 
other interesting  scene  on  the  commencement 
sta2:e.  Winfield  Scott,  still  suiferins:  from  the 
glorious   wounds  of  war,  was  passing  through 

*  College  proctor  from  1870-1892. 


92  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

Priucetou  on  liis  wa}'  from  the  uortli.  He  was 
borne  to  the  platfoi'ni,  where  "  all  united  in 
clamorous  gi'eetings  to  the  young,  wounded  sol- 
dier, the  only  representative  that  they  had  seen 
of  a  successful,  noble  army."  The  valedictorian 
had  taken  as  his  theme,  "  A  Patriot  Citizen  in 
Time  of  AVar."  By  permission  of  the  Faculty, 
changes  were  made  which  gave  it  a  personal 
reference,  and  the  future  Major-General  was  able 
to  understand  how  Washington  felt  under  a 
similar  ordeal,  thirty-one  years  before. 

The  commencement  of  that  day  had  a  pic- 
turesque accompaniment,  which  reminds  one  of 
an  old  harvest  festival  in  Merrie  Englande.  The 
crops  were  all  garnered,  and  the  country  folk  for 
miles  around  flocked  to  the  town  to  see  the  dis- 
tinguished visitors  and  celebrate  the  end  of  an- 
other season's  toil.  The  street  in  front  of  the 
college  and  the  church  where  commencement  ex- 
ercises were  held  resembled  a  county  fair.  Hun- 
dreds of  men,  women,  and  children  surrounded 
the  booths,  tables,  and  wagons,  where  venders 
praised  the  virtues  of  their  cheap  wares,  or  com- 
forted the  crowd  with  cider  and  small  beer.  At 
intervals  the  street  was  rapidly  cleared,  and 
tumultuous  cheers  greeted  a  bunch  of  panting 
horses  as  they  dashed  down  the  highway  for  the 
local  sweepstakes.     Boys  and   men  played  for 


'■<i^x. 


ANTE   BELLUM.  95 


pennies,  fiddlei's  scraped  away  while  robust 
couples  danced  the  country  jigs.  On  one  occa- 
sion the  venerable  old  cannon  back  of  North 
was  forced  to  be  party  to  a  bull-baiting.  The 
unfoi'tunate  brute  was  fastened  by  the  horns  to 
the  Kevolutionary  veteran,  and  worried  by  a 
pack  of  dogs,  to  the  great  delectation  of  a  large 
and  appreciative  assemblage. 

This  annual  saturnalia  was  naturally  exces- 
sively annoying  to  the  college  authorities,  and 
so  early  as  1807  we  find  the  Board  passing  the 
following  resolution : 

"  Resolved,  That  no  person  whatever  be  permitted  to 
erect  any  booth,  or  fix  any  wagon  for  selling  liquor  or 
other  refreshment  on  the  day  of  Commencement  on  the 
ground  of  the  College,  except  on  that  part  of  the  road  to 
the  eastward  of  the  middle  gate  of  the  front  Campus,  and 
that  this  Board  will  pay  the  expense  of  carrying  this  reso- 
lution into  effect." 

It  was  largely  in  order  to  escape  these  "  un- 
happy accompaniments,"  that  the  day  for  com- 
mencement was  changed,  in  1843,  from  Septem- 
ber to  the  month  of  June. 

If  it  is  true  that  the  nation  is  happy  which 
has  no  history,  Princeton  men  can  look  with 
pleasure  on  the  thirty  years  of  Dr.  James  Car- 
nahan's  presidency,  extending  from  1823  to 
1853.     The  record  of  this  period  is  a  record  of 


96  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

prosperity  aud  quiet,  substantial  gru\vtli.  East 
and  West  colleges,  a  professor's  house,  a  refec- 
tory, a  chapel,  and  the  Whig  and  Clio  Halls  were 
built.  The  campus  was  enlarged  and  improved, 
the  standard  of  studies  gradually  raised,  and  the 
number  of  instructors  tripled. 

The  administration  of  President  Maclean 
"the  best  loved  man  in  America,"  was  marked 
by  two  unfortunate  events :  the  burning  of 
Nassau  Hall  in  1855,  and  the  withdrawal  of  the 
Southern  students  at  the  beginning  of  the  war. 

Princeton  had  always  an  unusually  large  con- 
stituency in  the  South — more  so  than  any  other 
Northern  institution.  In  ante-bellum  days  about 
two  fifths  of  the  undei'graduates  were  from  that 
section.  Naturally  the  intense  political  feeling 
of  the  time  found  its  expression  among  the 
students,  and  heated  discussions  often  led  to 
arguments  of  a  different  kind.  A  national  flag 
which  had  been  run  up  over  the  belfry  of  Old 
North  was  taken  down  by  order  of  the  Presi- 
dent. The  Faculty,  although  thoroughly  loyal 
to  the  Union,  endeavored  to  keep  the  j^eace  of 
the  college  by  preventing  conflicts  which  might 
lead  to  disorder.  The  Northern  men  insisted 
on  the  flag,  however,  and  Capt.  John  Margerum 
of  Princeton,  amid  the  enthusiastic  cheers  of  the 
students,  climbed  to  the  dizzy  height  al)()ve  the 


ANTE  BELLUM. 


99 


cupola  and  fastened  the  old  colors  to  the  top- 
most peak.  The  flag  was  hardly  up,  before  a 
heavy  gale  bent  the  rod,  so  that  the  vane 
pointed  to  the  north  throughout  the  four  years 
of  the  war.  This  reminiscence  is  still  cherished 
by  old  citizens  as  one  of  the  omens  of  the  time. 
Three  students,  who  had  been  expelled  for 
"pumping"  a  too  outspoken  "copperhead," 
were  sent  away  with  a  grand  demonstration. 
Enthroned  in  a  wagon,  bedecked  with  flags  and 
banners,  they  were  drawn  through  the  town  by 
hundreds  of  citizens  and  students,  who  tugged 
at  the  long  ropes  and  heralded  their  aj)proach 
by  tumultuous  cheering.  Numerous  stops  were 
made,  and  the  long  serpent  which  drew  the  car 
circled  again  about  it,  to  shout  themselves  hoarse 
over  the  speeches  of  the  retiring  patriots. 

After  Sumter  was  fired  on,  the  Southern 
students — more  than  ninety  in  number — w'ith- 
drew  in  a  body,  and  the  perplexities  of  the 
Faculty  were  at  an  end. 

President  Maclean  carried  the  collecje  throu2:h 
the  troublous  times  which  followed,  and  retired 
in  1868,  beloved  by  all  his  students,  and  vener- 
ated by  all  who  knew  him.  During  his  term, 
gifts  amounting  to  more  than  $400,000  were 
bestowed  upon  the  college,  the  Halsted  Obser- 
vatory was  secured,  and  the  splendid  founda- 


lOO  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

tiou  of  the  John  C.  Green  School  of  Science 
2:)rojected.  The  third  and  most  glorious  era  had 
begun,  and  it  remained  for  Dr.  McCosh  to  realize 
its  magnificent  promise,  and  add  his  name  to  the 
list  of  brilliant  men  who  have  presided  over 
the  destinies  of  Nassau  Hall. 


V. 


ad:\iinistration  of  james  mccosii. 

It  was  a  good  day  for  Princeton  when  Dr. 
McCosh  wrote  from  Queen's  College,  Belfast : 

"  I  devote  myself  and  my  remaining  life,  under  God, 
to  old  Princeton,  and  the  religious  and  literary  interests 
with  which  it  is  identified,  and,  I  fancy,  will  leave  my 
bones  in  your  graveyard  beside  the  great  and  good  men 
who  are  buried  there,  hoping  that  my  spirit  may  mount 
to  communion  with  them  in  heaven." 

Dr.  McCosh's  early  life  was  spent  on  liis 
father's  farm,  in  the  southern  part  of  Ayrshii-e. 
Here  he  was  reared  in  a  thatched  dwelling,  sur- 
rounded by  cow-houses,  a  stable,  cart-house, 
and  barn.  This  modest  home  looked  out  upon 
the  smiling  valley  of  the  Doon,  and  over  the 
meadows  and  hills  of  the  "  land  of  Burns  "  the 
farmer's  boy  was  accustomed  to  wander  at  will 
with  his  pony,  "  Cuddy,"  and  his  collie, 
"  Famous,"  studying  the  meadow-sweet  and  fox- 
glove, observing  the  habits  of  birds,  and  exercis- 


I02  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

ing   that   reflective   disposition   which   he   had 
inherited  from  his  fatlier. 

Ill  November,  1824,  an  Ayrshire  boy,  age 
thirteen,  was  entered  in  the  preparatory  class  at 
Glasgow  University.  He  was  a  tall,  shy  youth, 
and  his  fellow  collegians  took  little  or  no  notice 
of  him.  He  made  few  friends,  and  lived  the 
retired  and  uneventful  life  of  a  student.  The 
languages  he  acquired  with  difficulty,  but  early 
in  his  course  the  fascinating  problems  of  phi- 
losophy took  possession  of  his  mind.  He  had 
also  an  insatiable  appetite  for  miscellaneous 
reading,  devoured  the  works  of  Scott  and  Byron 
as  they  came  out,  and  roused  the  anger  of  a 
somewhat  choleric  librarian  by  insisting  on  hav- 
ing new  books  immediately  upon  their  publica- 
tion. His  mind  developed  slowly,  and,  owing 
to  his  extreme  youth,  he  did  not  succeed  in 
surpassing  the  leading  students,  although  main- 
taining an  honorable  rank.  He  left  GLisgow, 
he  says,  without  a  professor  or  fellow-student 
imagining  that  he  would  ever  reach  any  distinc- 
tion. He  was  a  Scotchman,  and  could  keep  his 
own  counsel,  but  built  into  the  rugged  gi-anite 
of  liis  character  was  the  unexpressed  thought 
and  purpose  that  ^'  I  would  one  day  hold  my 
place  with  the  best  of  them,  provided  persever- 
ance could  do  it." 


PRESIDENT   MCCOSH. 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  JAMES  McCOSII.         105 

111  the  fall  of  1829  James  McCosb,  drawn  by 
the  name  of  Thomas  Chalmers,  ^\•ellt  to  Edin- 
burgh, where  he  pursued  a  divinity  course  for 
five  years.  The  personal  force  of  this  great 
teacher,  the  richness  of  his  thought  and  the  imj^et- 
uosity  of  his  elo(juence,  made  a  deep  impression 
on  the  student  from  Glasgow,  and  in  later  life 
he  expressed  the  opinion  that  Chalmers  was, 
w\>*d\\  the  whole,  the  greatest  man  he  had  met 
with.  Those  were  the  golden  days  of  Edin- 
burgh, when  John  Leslie  and  Sir  AVilliam  Ham- 
ilton were  delivering  their  lectures,  when  the 
redoubtable  Francis  Jeffrey  was  training  the 
guns  of  the  Edinburgh  Keview,  and  "  the  great 
unknown  "  was  entertaining  the  world  w^ith  his 
Waverley  Novels.  Edinburgh  did  not  require 
as  much  commonplace  daily  study  as  Glasgow, 
but  the  atmosphere  of  the  place  ^vas  literary  and 
philosophical,  and  under  its  genial  influence  the 
ripening  powers  of  the  future  metaphysician 
besran  to  show  their  real  victor. 

Mr.  McCosh  had  been  in  the  university  a 
very  short  time,  before  his  abilities  were  recos:- 
nized  and  he  won  and  maintained  a  hi<2:h  rank 
and  an  influential  position  among  the  students. 
The  new  science  of  geology  interested  him 
greatly ;  he  read  deeply  in  })liilosophy,  and,  at 
times,  in  fact,  gave  his  theological  studies  ;i  rather 


I06  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

subordinate  place.  After  completing  his  course 
he  shrank  from  entering  the  ministry  at  once, 
doubting  his  fitness,  and  devoted  another  year 
to  readiuiz;. 

In  the  spring  of  1834  he  was  finally  licensed 
by  the  Presbytery  of  Ayr,  a  member  being  ap- 
pointed to  tell  him  he  must  make  his  preaching 
more  popular  and  less  abstract,  leaving  out  such 
phrases  as  transcendental  and  the  like, — an  ad- 
monition which  the  young  minister  endeavored 
patiently  and  successfully  to  obey.  This  is  not 
the  place  to  give  an  account  of  Dr.  McCosh's 
long  and  eventful  service  in  the  ministry,  his 
various  pastorates,  and  his  fearless  leadership  in 
fighting  Establishment  and  founding  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland.  In  1850  he  published  his 
Method  of  Divine  Government,  a  book  which 
has  gone  through  at  least  twenty  editions,  and 
which  at  once  established  his  reputation  as  a 
writer  and  thinker. 

The  year  1852  saw  him  installed  as  Professor 
of  Logic  and  Metaphysics  at  Queens  College, 
Belfast.  For  sixteen  years  he  devoted  himself 
to  teaching  and  research  in  those  fields  of 
knowledge  to  which  his  genius  called  him, 
writing  a  number  of  books,  and  throwing  him- 
self eagerly  into  the  philosophical  battles  of  the 
time.     In  the  midst  of  this  active  and  absorbing 


MCCOSH    WALK. 


ADMfNISTRATION-  OF  JAMES  McCOSH.         IO9 

life,  be  came  home,  one  May  evening,  fi-om  Lis 
work  in  Queens,  and  found  a  despatch  announ- 
cing that  he  had  been  elected  President  of 
Princeton  College. 

Before  the  election  of  Dr.  McCosh  the  stu- 
dents were  unanimously  in  his  favor,  and  when, 
on  the  20th  of  October,  18G8,  the  Tripoli  was 
reported  off  Sandy  Hook,  they  were  prepared 
to  give  the  newly  arrived  President  a  rousing 
reception. 

In  the  words  of  the  Lit.  "Grossip"  of  that 
time : 

"As  the  hands  of  the  clock  crept  around  to  four,  there 
arose  from  the  college  a  shout,  the  Nassau  shout,  which 
always  draws  a  crowd.  Then  there  was  a  rushing  to  the 
depot,  and  a  marshalling  of  students.  Soon  the  shrill 
whistle,  and  after,  the  '  down  brakes,'  announced  that  he 
had  come — announced  the  arrival  of  McCosh.  Of 
course  there  was  cheering  again,  the  old  cheer  of  the 
Nassaus,  and  the  procession  moved  towards  the  Presi- 
dent's house.  .  .  .  Arrived  at  the  house,  the  stu- 
dents formed  in  semi-circle  about  the  front,  when  Dr. 
Atwatcr,  Acting  President,  introduced  to  them  Their 
Real  President,  Jamks  McCosh.  He,  stepping  forth,  was 
received  with  loudest  hurrahing." 

That  night  the  Triangle  resounded  to  the 
tread  of  marching  columns,  rockets  shot  uj) 
into  the  uight,  and  the  old  cannon  glowed  red 
to  its  very  heart,   under  the  roar  of  a  blazing 


no  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

bonfire.  A  \veek  latei*,  the  iuauguration.  Every- 
body is  here.  The  new  President  is  welcomed 
by  polished  addresses  in  English  and  a  learned 
s^^eech  in  Latin.  That  evening  the  campus  is 
gay  with  flaring  calcium  lights  and  the  mellower 
rays  of  colored  transparencies  for  the  first  time 
since  the  visit  of  Lafayette. 

Dr.  McCosh's  long  experience  as  a  teacher, 
his  important  service  in  developing  the  Uni- 
versity of  Belfast,  and  his  intimate  acquaintance 
with  the  educational  methods  of  Europe  and 
America,  gave  him  a  special  fitness  for  the  task 
with  which  he  was  confronted.  His  fii'st  report 
to  the  Board  of  Trustees  indicated  that  a  strong 
hand  was  upon  the  helm.  Among  the  eight 
recommendations  he  offered,  are  two  of  special 
significance. 

The  first  was  that  "  Encouragement  should  be 
given  to  the  founding  of  scholarships  or  fellow- 
ships, to  be  earned  by  graduates  at  a  competition 
and  fitted  to  promote  high  scholarship,  and 
retain  young  men  of  ability  for  a  longer  time 
at  their  favorite  studies."  It  was  the  President's 
o})inion  that  the  attainments  of  the  great  majoi-ity 
of  students  was  as  high  in  America  as  in  Europe. 
But  he  found  in  the  new  world  no  selected  body 
of  men  doing  post-gi'aduate  work  along  special 
lines  and  cultivating  a  high  grade  of  scholarship. 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  JAMES  McCOSH.         Ill 


It  was  to  meet  this  need  that  the  recom- 
mendation was  made.  As  a  result,  there  are 
no^v^  a  dozen  fellowships  in  various  de23artments 
offered  to  the  graduating  class,  and  the  remark- 
able roll  of  scholai's  and  professors  Avho  have 
been  graduated  under  Dr.  McCosh,  shows  how 
successful  his  policy  has  been. 

The  second  recommendation  concerned  the 
introduction  of  electives.  In  1868  the  candidates 
for  degrees  were  confined  to  a  four-years' 
required  course  in  Latin,  Greek,  and  mathe- 
matics, with  a  little  science  and  philosophy.  It 
was  felt  that  some  place  should  be  found  for 
the  new  studies  which  the  great  advances  in 
science  had  developed,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
degrees  must  not  be  suffered  to  lose  their 
meaning.  It  was  found  impossible  to  require 
additional  studies  while  retaining  all  old  ones, 
and  the  elective  system  was  devised  to  meet  the 
difficulty.  During  the  twenty  years  of  his 
administration,  this  elective  system  was  care- 
fully matured,  under  the  judicious  and  j^rogres- 
sive  direction  of  the  President.  Step  by  step, 
the  number  of  electives  was  increased,  until 
required  work  in  classics  and  mathematics 
became  confined  to  freshman  and  sophomore 
years,  and  tlie  upper  classmen  could  make  their 
choice  from  an  inviting  schedule,  containing  as 


I  1 2  PRIXCE  TOM   SKE  TCHES. 


great  a  number  of  brauches  as  are  usually  taught 
in  the  universities  of  England,  Scotland,  and 
Ii'eland,  and  nearly  all  the  branches  taught  in 
Germany. 

The  spirit  of  Dr.  McCosh's  administration  is 
well  expressed  in  a  sentence  or  two  from  his 
closing  address : 

"  I  said  to  myself  and  I  said  to  others,  We  have  a  fine 
old  college  here,  with  many  friends  ;  why  should  we  not 
make  it  equal  to  any  college  in  America,  and,  in  the  end, 
to  any  in  Europe  ?  The  friends  of  Princeton  saw  I  was 
in  earnest,  and  nobly  did  they  encourage  me." 

"  In  those  days  I  was  like  the  hound  in  the  leash  ready 
to  start,  and  they  encouraged  me  with  their  shouts  as  I 
sprang  forth  to  the  hunt." 

Tlie  enthusiasm  was  contagjious.  The  students 
talked  of  the  "new  era,"  and  generous  alumni 
responded  liberally  to  the  Doctor's  calls  for 
funds.  Money  poured  in.  New  chairs  were 
endowed,  and  buildings  went  up  as  if  by  magic. 

There  has  scarcely  been  a  time  since  1868  when 
some  part  of  the  campus  has  not  been  littered 
with  the  stones  and  lumber  of  a  new  build- 
inf.  The  Halsted  Observatory  was  risins^  when 
Dr.  McCosh  was  inaugurated.  In  his  speech  on 
that  occasion,  the  incomino^  President  declai-ed 


ADMINISTRATION    OF  JAMES  McCOSH.         II5 

with  great  applause  from  the  students,  that 
every  college  shouhl  have  a  gymnasium  for  the 
body  as  well  as  for  the  mind.  It  was  not  two 
years  before  he  had  the  pleasure  of  dedicating 
what  was  then  the  best  gymnasium  in  America. 
Shortly  afterwards,  Dickinson  Hall  was  opened 
with  its  comfortable  recitation  rooms.  In  1871 
Reunion  Hall  added  a  dormitory  for  the  rapidly 
increasing  number  of  students.  Two  years  later 
the  Chancellor  Green  Librar}^  was  completed. 
In  the  same  year  Mr.  J.  C.  Green  started  the 
Quadrangle  of  the  School  of  Science,  the  stately 
Gothic  facade  of  which  ornaments  the  eastern 
campus.  Then  followed  Murray  Hall,  devoted 
to  the  use  of  the  Philadelphian  Society.  In 
rapid  succession  University  Hall,  AVitherspoon, 
the  new  President's  Mansion,  Marquand  Chapel, 
Edwards  Hall,  The  Biological  Museum,  and  the 
Art  School  were  added,  not  to  mention  some 
less  imposing  buildings. 

Before  the  rapid  multiplication  of  buildings 
had  gone  far,  a  landscape  gardener  was  employed 
to  prepare  a  plan  for  the  extension  and  improve- 
ment of  the  campus.  Dr.  McCosh  took  a  great 
interest  in  this  -work,  and  had  the  grounds  laid 
out  somewhat  on  the  model  of  the  demesnes  of 
English  noblemen.  Dozens  of  deformed  trees 
and  shrubs  bowed  to  his  orders,  and  hundreds 


Il6  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 


of  new  ones  were  planted  under  liis  directions. 
On  more  than  one  uncertain  April  day  has  the 
tall  form  of  the  President  been  seen  on  the 
campus,  as  he  walked  about  with  shoots 
and  cuttings  under  his  arm,  carefully  deciding 
where  they  should  be  idaced.  The  contrasting 
styles  and  architectural  beauty  of  the  ncAv 
buildings  were  well  setoff  by  the  smooth  sweep 
of  shady  lawns  between,  and  the  result  is  a 
campus  which  was  some  years  ago  pronounced 
by  the  President  of  Harvard  the  most  beautiful 
in  America. 

This  material  development  was  paralleled  by 
not  less  extensive  additions  to  the  teaching 
force.  In  1868  there  were  ten  professors,  four 
tutors,  t^vo  teachers,  in  all  sixteen  engaged  in 
instruction,  besides  three  extraordinary  lecturers. 
In  enlarging  the  teaching  corps,  as  demanded 
by  the  expanding  curriculum  and  the  growing 
number  of  students,  it  was  found  difficult  to 
secure  the  kind  of  men  desired.  A  system  of 
training  pi'ofessors  was  accordingly  introduced: 
College  Fellows  were  started  as  tutors  and 
instructors,  finally  ^vorking  into  full  professor- 
ships. As  a  result  of  this  method,  nearly  all 
the  younger  members  of  the  faculty  are  Prince- 
ton men.  In  1888,  the  teaching  force  consisted 
of    thirty-five     professors,    three    tutors,    and 


ADMINISTRA  TION  OF  JAMES  McCOSH.        I  1 9 

several  assistants  and  lecturers,  in  all  upwards 
of  forty. 

Dr.  McCosh  criticised  the  European  univer- 
sities for  their  utter  neglect  of  students  outside 
of  tlie  class-room.  He  felt  that,  without  in  any 
way  infringing  on  the  liberty  of  students,  it  was 
possible  to  take  an  interest  in  their  welfare,  and 
come  into  contact  with  them  in  a  personal  way. 
It  was  his  determined  policy  to  endeavor  to 
impress  upon  the  incoming  professors,  a  sense 
of  their  responsibility  in  this  direction.  The 
kindly  Doctor  was  not  content  with  enfor- 
cing regulations  for  the  preservation  of  college 
morals.  He  opened  his  doors  and  received  the 
students  with  unstinted  hospitality  into  his 
spacious  mansion.  Many  an  alumnus  cherishes 
in  his  memory  a  picture  of  that  tea-table,  a  few 
students  around  it,  the  Doctor  at  the  head, 
leading  the  conversation  with  his  strong,  cheery 
voice  and  slight  Scotch  accent ;  his  wife  Isa- 
bella, "  the  mother  of  the  students,"  opposite 
him,  pouring  tea  and  making  friendly  inquiries. 

What  student  of  the  last  administration  does 
not  remember  Isabella  McCosh  ?  No  under- 
graduate could  be  sick  for  a  day  without  hear- 
ing her  gentle  rap  at  his  door ;  without  receiving 
the  benediction  of  that  sweet,  motherly  face, 
and    enjoying    the    light    ministrations    of    her 


I20  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 


hands.  A[)petizing  broths,  and  delicacies  in 
snowy  napkins  came  over  from  Prospect,  and  it 
is  feared  that  occasionally  a  liomesick  student 
found  it  pleasanter  to  be  on  the  sick-list  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  Mrs.  McCosh  than  on  the  roll 
of  active  service  under  the  professors.  And 
when  the  beautiful  infirmary  which  now  graces 
the  hill-crest  on  the  campus  was  first  projected, 
it  could  have  received  no  other  name  than  that 
which  it  now  bears  :  '•  The  Isabella  McCosh 
Infirmary." 

There  were  some  matters  of  discipline  requir- 
ing attention,  and  the  new  President  took  hold 
of  them  with  a  prudent  yet  vigorous  hand. 
Hazing  in  particular  was  at  tliat  time  a  general 
practice,  and  was  carried  at  times  to  almost 
brutal  extremes.  On  one  memorable  occasion 
a  freshman  was  observed  in  chapel  with  a 
smooth  and  shining  expanse  of  head  that  would 
have  rivalled  the  display  of  the  baldest  octo- 
genarian. The  President  sent  for  Chancellor 
Green  and  took  legal  advice.  The  prospect  of 
a  criminal  action  and  a  course  in  the  State 
prison  brought  the  offenders  to  their  knees. 
They  all  confessed,  promised  never  to  do  it 
again,  and  were  pardoned.  Tlie  result  of  such 
a  course  was  a  vast  abatement  of  the  evil.  In 
fact,  after  a  few  years  scarcely  any  hazing  was 


ADMINISTRATIOiV   OF  JAMES  McCOSH.         121 

practised,  if  we  except  a  little  harmless  "  guy- 
iug  "  on  the  cam[)us. 

In  the  eai'ly  'TO's  it  was  fonnd  necessary  to 
take  measures  against  the  Greek-letter  frater- 
nities. Althouo;h  under  the  ban  of  colleo-e 
law,  they  had  gradually  worked  their  way  in, 
and  finally  were  openly  avowed,  by  the  display 
of  badges  upon  the  campus.  In  their  train 
came  disaster  to  the  two  old  literary  halls.  At 
that  time  the  representative  orators  and  de- 
baters were  chosen,  not  by  contest,  as  at  present, 
but  by  popular  election.  The  fraternity  men 
in  the  halls  intrigued  for  their  own  men,  literary 
qualifications  were  largely  overlooked,  and  tlie 
institutions  were  becoming  reduced  to  disorderly 
lobbies.  Literary  life  was  dying  out.  The 
halls  took  the  (juestion  up  themselves,  and 
became  divided  into  two  warrins:  factions — the 
fraternity  and  the  anti-fraternity  men. 

The  influence  of  these  organizations  extended 
outside  of  the  halls.  They  cons^iired  to  protect 
their  men  from  discipline,  and  on  one  occasion 
a  single  suspension  was  followed  by  an  open 
outbreak.  Under  these  circumstances  the  Presi- 
dent threw  his  heavy  sword  into  the  scales  of 
the  anti-fraternity  men.  There  was  vigorous 
o})position  from  the  hostile  faction  and  great 
excitement  throughout  the  college,  but  frater- 


122  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

nities  had  to  go,  root  and  brancli.  Rid  of  this 
disintegratiug  element,  Whig  and  Clio  revived, 
the  college  recovered  its  ancient  spirit  of  unity, 
and  now  the  most  pronounced  enemies  of 
fraternities  are  the  students  themselves. 

Possibly  this  chapter  would  not  be  complete 
without  some  reference  to  the  ''  Cannon  War  " 
with  Rutgers.  By  some  process,  not  exactly 
understood,  the  Rutgers  boys  came  to  believe 
that  the  smaller  of  the  two  cannon  left  here  after 
the  battle  of  Princeton  belonged  to  them.  Ac- 
cordingly, in  the  spring  vacation  of  1875,  when 
the  campus  was  deserted,  a  large  force  from 
New  Bi'uuswick  made  a  night  raid  upon  Prince- 
ton, dislodged  the  object  of  attack  by  a  vigorous 
onslaught  of  picks  and  shovels,  and  with  great 
valor  carried  their  trophy  back  to  Rutgers. 

When  the  spring  vacation  was  over,  and 
only  a  hole  in  the  ground  was  found  in  place 
of  the  cherished  totem,  great  was  the  wrath 
among  the  Nassaus.  A  campaign  was  organ- 
ized at  once,  and  a  long  column  set  out  for 
the  banks  of  the  Raritan,  breathing  out 
threatenings  and  slaughter.  The  cannon  had 
been  too  safely  secreted,  but  a  museum  in  con- 
nection with  the  college  was  taken,  and  some 
old  muskets  carried  back  by  way  of  reprisal. 
At   this    point    diplomacy    intervened.       The 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  JAMES  McCOSH.         1 25 


ardor  of  the  combatants  was  restrained,  while 
the  two  Faculties  ap[)ointed  committees  to  look 
into  the  matter.  Of  course,  an  examination  of 
the  records  could  lead  to  only  one  decision. 
The  relic  was  brought  back  and  })lanted  again 
with  appropriate  ceremonies ;  long  iron  rods 
were  twisted  around  it  and  embedded  deeply 
in  cement  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  the  theft, 
and  the  temple  of  Janus  was  closed. 

At  the  commencement  of  1888  Dr.  McCosh 
surrendered  the  keys  which  he  had  held  for 
twenty  years.  It  was  a  deeply  impressive  sight 
to  see  that  tall  and  rugged  figure,  that  massive 
head  fringed  with  locks  of  white,  that  strongly 
featured  face  furrowed  with  the  lines  of 
thousiht   and    shining    with    the    lio-ht   of    a 

o  C  o 

gracious  soul,  as  the  retiring  President  told  the 
story  of  "  Twenty  Years  of  Princeton  College," 
and  transferred  the  responsibility  of  his  beloved 
college  to  another. 

"  I  take  the  step,"  he  says,  "  firmly  and 
decidedly.  The  shadows  are  lengthening,  the 
day  is  declining.  My  age,  seven  years  above 
the  threescore  and  ten,  compels  it,  Providence 
pohits  to  it,  conscience  enjoins  it,  the  good  of 
the  college  demands  it.  I  take  the  step  as  one 
of  duty.     I  feel  relieved  as  I  take  it." 

The  mantle  of  Elijah  has  fallen  u[)on  Elisha. 


126  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 


While  we  leave  the  college  in  the  hands  of 
another,  let  us  take  a  look  at  the  venerable 
ex-President  in  the  home  of  his  old  ao-e  on 
Prospect  Avenue.  The  large  bow  windows 
of  his  library  look  over  forty  miles  of  rolling 
Jersey  woods  and  meadow-land  to  the  blue 
line  of  the  Navesink  Highlands.  Here  he  has 
employed  his  time  in  revising  the  more  impor- 
tant of  his  published  works.  That  task  com- 
pleted, his  active  mind  resents  the  increasing 
infirmities  of  age,  and  demands  some  employ- 
ment. His  mind  turns  to  the  j)ast,  and  his 
indefatigable  pen  is  busy  upon  a  series  of 
sketches  entitled  '•'■  Incidents  of  My  Life  in 
Three  Countries^  This  task  also  is  finished. 
If  we  would  learn  the  spirit  of  the  man  and 
receive  a  parting  benediction  from  his  venerable 
hands,  let  us  look  over  his  shoulder,  as  his  pen 
traces  the  words  of  the  closing  soliloquy  : 

"  Farewell,  hill  and  dale,  mountain  and  valley,  foun- 
tain and  stream,  river  and  brook,  lake  and  outflow,  forest 
and  shady  dell,  sun  and  moon,  earth  and  sky.  I  have 
lived  among  you,  I  have  been  closely  acquainted  with 
you,  I  have  watched  you  and  your  aspects  and  wandered 
much  among  you,  I  have  delighted  in  you  and  loved  you, 
and  my  heart  lingers  among  you.  I  feel  that  there  is 
nothing  wrong  in  this,  for  I  know  that  ye  are  all  the 
works  of  God.  Ye  may  have  been  defiled  by  the  deeds 
of   men,  but   ye    are   yourselves  chaste.     The    air   that 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  JAMES  McCOSII.         12/ 


breathes  from  you  is  pure  and  exhilarating  ;  I  will  not 
forget  you.  In  my  everlasting  existence  I  may  hope  to 
revisit  you  and  renew  my  ardor. 

"  Welcome,  what  immeasurably  exceeds  all  these — 
Heaven  with  its  glory  !  Heaven  with  its  angels  that 
excel  in  strength  !  Heaven  with  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect  !  Heaven  with  Jesus  Himself  so  full  of 
tenderness  !  Heaven  with  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost." 


VI. 

PKIXCETOX    UXIVERSITY. 

In  President  McCosb's  closing  address,  he 
said : 

"  I  think  it  proper  to  state  that  I  meant  all  along  that 
these  new  and  varied  studies,  with  their  groupings  and 
combinations,  should  lead  to  the  formation  of  a  studiiim 
gcncrale^  which  was  supposed  in  the  Middle  Ages  to 
constitute  a  university.  At  one  time  I  cherished  the 
hope  that  I  might  be  honored  to  introduce  such  a 
measure.  From  my  intimate  acquaintance  with  the 
systems  of  Princeton  and  other  colleges,  I  was  so  vain  as 
to  think  that  out  of  our  available  materials  I  could  have 
constructed  a  university  of  a  high  order.  .  .  .  The 
college  has  been  brought  to  the  very  borders,  and  I  leave 
it  to  another  to  carry  it  over  into  the  land  of  promise." 

lu  this  country  particularly,  the  term  univer- 
sity is  used  with  a  vast  amount  of  latitude.  In 
the  absence  of  any  legal  or  definite  historical 
criterion,  the  name  has  been  used  without  care- 
ful discrimination,  and  has,  in  many  cases,  been 
appropriated  by  institutions  which  are  clearly 
beyond  the  pale  of  any  definition,  however 
generous,  tlieir  only  justification  being  an  am- 

12S 


PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY.  I  29 

bitiou  to  some  day  deserve  the  title.  In  Europe, 
new  institutions  are  not  nearly  so  numerous. 
The  older  seats  of  learning  hold  this  name  by 
a  well-earned  prescription,  and  even  where  new 
schools  are  started,  an  instinctive  conservatism 
prevents  the  hasty  assumption  of  university 
rank. 

The  tendency  in  America  seems  to  be  to 
reserve  the  strict  use  of  the  term  for  institutions 
which  have  the  four  faculties  :  arts,  law,  medi- 
cine, and  theology;  but  history  does  not  justify 
this  limitation.  Salerno,  Bologna,  and  Paris 
were  universities  when  they  had  but  one 
faculty. 

It  is  thought  by  others  that  a  curriculum 
offering  a  wide  range  of  studies,  with  freedom 
of  choice  to  the  student  body,  constitutes  a 
university.  But,  since  there  is  no  one  to  say 
just  where  the  line  must  be  drawn  as  to  extent 
of  courses  and  freedom  of  choice,  the  definition 
is  of  little  practical  value.  The  English  univer- 
sities are  merely  examining  and  degree-granting 
bodies,  with  more  or  less  closely  affiliated  col- 
leges under  them.  But,  judged  by  this  standard, 
many  of  the  foremost  universities  of  the  ^vorld 
must  abandon  their  claim  to  that  distinction. 
The  German  conception  seems  to  be  that  a 
university  is  an  institution  designed  to  promote 


no  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 


oi'io^inal  research  and  enc()urao:e  the  work  (>f 
specialists.  It  woukl  seem,  then,  that,  histur- 
ically,  this  title  has  been  applied  to  seats  of 
learning  which,  either  by  the  wide  range  of 
courses  offere<l,  or  by  a  particularly  high  stand- 
ard of  excellence  in  special  departments,  have 
crossed  a  certain  indefinable  line,  and  won  for 
themselves  a  position  in  the  first  rank  of  learn- 
ing. Judged,  either  by  the  number  of  her 
faculties,  the  extent  of  hei*  courses,  the  freedom 
of  choice  offered  to  the  students,  or  the  cultiva- 
tion of  original  research  by  a  picked  body  of 
specialists,  Princeton  is  certainly  a  university, 
in  the  strictest  sense,  if  there  is  one  in  this 
country. 

As  to  the  particular  kind  of  university  which 
Princeton  represents,  it  may  be  said  that  her 
type  is  composite.  The  founders  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey  designed  it  upon  the  broad  basis 
of  a  studium  generale.  Their  expressed  pur- 
pose was  an  opportunity  for  liberal  culture. 
The  subsequent  expansion  has  resulted  from 
natural  and  healthy  evolution.  By  steadily 
raising  the  entrance  requirements,  and  extending 
the  curriculum  under  the  elective  system,  the 
Facult}^  of  Arts  has  been  brought  to  a  posi- 
tion where  Juniors  and  seniors  ai'e  doing  real 
university  ^vork. 


HKONZK  STATUE  OF  PRESIDENT    MCCOSU    IN    MARljLANU    CHANEL. 


PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY.  133 

The  School  of  Science  was  originally  founded 
to  find  a  place  for  the  sciences  which  were 
clamoring  for  admission  into  the  regular  aca- 
demic course.  It  ^vas  not  designed  to  give  a 
merely  technical  training,  but  to  satisfy  the 
demand  for  a  course  which  would  recognize,  to 
the  fullest  extent,  the  disciplinary  value  of 
modern  scientific  studies.  Modern  lano^uaires 
took  the  place  of  classics,  and  some  of  the 
English  and  other  courses  of  the  Academic 
Department  were  required,  in  order  that  the 
first  conception  of  the  college,  a  broad,  human- 
izing culture,  might  not  yield  to  a  narrow, 
technical  training. 

The  development  of  the  school,  however,  and 
its  greatest  success  has  been  along  lines  other 
than  those  anticipated  by  its  founders.  It  has 
grown  with  amazing  rapidity,  and  its  require- 
ments have  been  steadily  raised.  Courses  are 
offered,  with  a  liberal  range  of  electives,  in 
general  science,  chemistry,  and  biology  and 
chemistry,  for  a  degree  of  bachelor  of  science. 
There  are  also  courses  for  deirrees  of  Civil 
Engineer  and  Electrical  Engineer.  A  minority 
of  the  students  in  the  school,  however,  have 
entered  for  the  general  Bachelor  of  Science 
course,  sixty  per  cent,  of  the  undergraduates 
enrolled   being  candidates  for   the  degrees   of 


134  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

C.E.  or  E.E.  This  tendency  has  been  recog- 
nized by  the  Scientific  Faculty  ;  courses  hav'e 
been  adapted ;  tlie  best  a[)paratus  and  equip- 
ment have  been  put  at  the  service  of  technical 
students,  and  the  result  is  that  a  large  body  of 
men  are  graduated  every  year,  prepared  to  enter 
at  once  U})ou  the  practice  of  their  professions. 

The  School  of  Science  has  already  evolved 
two  separate  schools  of  the  first  rank.  The  new 
chemical  lab(n'atory  was  designed  by  Prof. 
Cornwall,  after  a  careful  study  of  the  leading 
schools  at  home  and  abroad.  The  result  is  a 
building  which,  for  convenience  and  complete- 
ness of  equipment,  is  at  present  unrivalled. 
Beside  the  regular  undeigraduates,  there  is  an 
increasing  number  of  graduate  students  who  are 
doing  advanced  and  special  work  of  a  high  order. 

The  new  Electrical  School,  under  Prof, 
Brackett,  has  also  the  advantage  of  a  thoroughly 
modern  equipment.  Most  of  its  students  have 
already  taken  the  first  degree,  either  in  arts  or 
science,  and  the  course  is  thoroughly  technical, 
with  severe  requirements  both  in  the  theory 
and  practice  of  electrical  engineering. 

Princeton  has  no  undue  ambition  to  multiply 
her  faculties.  The  opportunities  of  her  present 
field  are  felt  to  be  so  vast,  that  her  main  energies 
may  well  be  directed  in  conserving  and  devel- 


1 


vfll 


*jlg^ 


PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY.  I  37 

oping  what  is  already  here.  The  tendency 
seems  to  be  for  each  department  to  grow  into  a 
more  advanced  university  type,  acquiring,  as  it 
develops,  something  of  an  autonomy.  In  the 
Academic  School,  the  Departments  of  Philoso- 
phy, Language  and  Literature,  and  Mathematics 
and  Natural  Science  have  already  made  consider- 
able progress  in  the  direction  of  advanced  work 
by  post-graduate  specialists.  In  addition  to  the 
fourteen  university  fellows,  there  are  now  over 
a  hundred  graduate  students  in  the  various 
courses,  seventy  per  cent,  of  whom  have  taken 
the  first  degree  in  other  colleges. 

There  is,  of  course,  no  Theological  Faculty, 
the  Princeton  Seminary  having  no  organic  con- 
nection whatever  with  the  colleo-e.  This  is 
doubtless  an  advantage,  since  a  seminary  can 
hardly  escape  a  denominational  character,  while 
a  university  must,  of  course,  be  entirely  free 
from  such  limitations.  At  the  same  time  there 
is  a  friendly  reciprocity  which  secures  all  the 
substantial  advantao;es  of  an  oro-anic  union.  The 
students  of  each  institution  are  admitted  freely 
to  the  courses  of  the  other,  and  the  privileges 
of  both  libraries  are  also  enjoyed  in  common. 

Perhaps  the  next  development  will  be  in  the 
direction  of  a  Law  Faculty.  It  is  one  of  the 
President's  most  cherished  projects,    and    will 


138  PRIACETON   SKETCHES. 

doubtless  be  realized  as  soon  as  the  necessary 
funds  are  available.  It  is  not  his  design  to  estab- 
lish a  law  school  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the 
term — that  is  to  say,  a  school  to  prepare  men 
merely  for  their  l^ar  examinations.  Dr.  Patton 
wishes  to  found  chairs  from  which  law  will  be 
taught,  not  so  much  as  a  science  as  a  branch  of 
philoso[)hy.  The  professional  law  schools  have 
no  time  to  deal  with  the  History  and  Philosophy 
of  Jurisprudence,  and  the  institution  which 
first  secures  a  foundation  for  advanced  study 
in  this  department  will  enter  a  field  compara- 
tively unoccupied  in  this  country,  and  ^^'ill 
doubtless  draw  about  it  a  select  body  of 
scholarly  jurists.  Experience  has  shown  that 
such  a  philosophical  course  affords  an  invalu- 
able basis  for  the  subsequent  study  of  practice 
law.  This  Law  School  will  not  come  as  a 
creation,  but  as  the  outgrowth  of  the  present 
Department  in  Political  Science.  In  fact,  it  is 
in  a  measure  already  realized. 

When  Dr.  McCosh  came  to  Princeton,  the 
catalogue  show^ed  264  students ;  when  he 
retired,  the  number  enrolled  had  increased  to 
603.  Dr.  Patton  in  his  inaugural  was  rash 
enough  to  express  the  hope  that  he  might  live 
to  see  the  numl)ers  reach  lOOO.  Four  years 
have    sufficed    to    see    his    dream     more  than 


PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY,  I4I 

realized,  and  the  only  practical  limit  to  growth 
seems  to  be  the  lack  of  accommodations.  Durinir 
this  period  twelve  ])uildings  have  been  erected 
or  undertaken  at  an  aggregate  cost  of  over 
$1,000,000,  and  other  valuable  endowments  have 
been  given  to  the  college.  However,  the  needs 
have  outsti'ipped  the  generosity  of  friends,  most 
of  the  recent  structures  have  increased  the  ex- 
penses rather  than  the  revenues,  and  there  was 
never  a  time  when  liberal  endowments  were 
more  ui'gently  required.  About  thirty  men 
have  been  added  to  the  teaching  force,  and  the 
strain  upon,  resources  in  this  regard  is  par- 
ticularly severe. 

This  unprecedented  growth,  so  inspiring  to 
all  who  are  interested  in  Old  Nassau,  is  due  to 
a  variety  of  causes. 

A  large  part  of  it  is  a  direct  outgrowth  of 
the  splendid  work  done  under  the  administra- 
tion of  Dr.  McCosh.  His  own  world-wide 
reputation  strengthened  the  college  he  gov- 
erned. Under  his  leadership),  Trustees,  Faculty, 
alumni,  and  students  were  united  in  an  earnest 
effort  to  push  Princeton  into  the  foremost  place, 
and  a  number  of  wealthy  benefactors  came 
forward  to  make  the  accomplishment  of  their 
plans  possible.  The  country  at  lai'ge  is  just 
beginning  to  realize  what  Princeton  has 
become,    and    the    natural   result     is    a    great 


142  PKIXCETON   SKETCHES. 


increase   iu    the    number    of   applications     for. 
matriculation. 

When  Dr.  Patton  took  the  presidential 
chair,  he  was  known  as  a  man  of  profound 
erudition  and  brilliant  intellectual  gifts. 
During  the  four  years  of  his  administration, 
he  has  shown  himself  as  skilful  and  successful 
in  dealing  with  the  executive  details  of  his 
office,  as  in  handling  the  more  abstruse  ques- 
tions of  metaphysics.  The  charm  of  his  per- 
sonality, and  his  sparkling  addresses,  have  won 
the  hearts  of  alumni  all  over  the  country. 
Most  of  all,  perhaps,  his  generous  confidence  in 
the  student  body,  his  ready  sj^mpathy  with 
undergraduate  life,  and  the  kindly  interest  he 
shows  in  all  whose  affairs  may  require  his  con- 
sideration, have  v/on  for  him  the  steadfast 
regard  of  every  man  on  the  campus.  The  first 
re(j[uisite  to  the  grow^th  of  such  an  institution 
is  enthusiasm,  and  there  was  never  a  more 
enthusiastic  body  of  men  than  those  who  are 
at  present  supporting  the  President  in  his 
labors  for  advancing  the  university. 

Princeton  has  also  a  cosmopolitan  character, 
not  enjoyed  in  the  same  degree  by  many  of  her 
rivals.  Of  course,  the  convenience  of  neigh- 
borhood gives  to  every  institution  a  large  local 
clientele.,  and  two-thirds  of  the  students  at 
Nassau    come    from    the    four    great    INIiddle 


PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY.  145 

States.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that 
this  territory  represents  an  area  of  over  one 
hundred  thousand  square  miles.  Of  the  remain- 
ing students,  17  per  cent,  come  from  the  Western 
States,  12  per  cent,  from  the  South,  1  per  cent, 
from  New  England,  and  4  per  cent,  from 
foreign  countries.  During  recent  years,  the 
rapid  gains  from  the  West  and  South  have 
been  particularly  noticeable.  In  ante-bellum 
days  one  third  of  the  degrees  were  granted  to 
Southern  students,  and  there  is  scarcely  a  great 
family  in  all  that  region  that  cannot  point  to 
its  name  recurring  moi'e  than  once  in  the 
Catalogus  Collegii  Neo-Csesariensis.  The  pros- 
tration that  followed  the  war,  and  the  almost 
total  extermination  of  many  leading  families, 
affected  Princeton's  roll  very  seriously ;  but 
with  the  present  revival  of  material  interests 
in  the  South,  her  sons  are  beginning  to  return 
to  their  historic  Mater,  and  the  last  five  years 
have  doubled  the  representation  from  that 
section. 

The  shifting  of  the  centre  of  population 
toward  the  west  is  also  giving  Princeton  an 
increasing  advantage  over  her  ancient  rivals. 
Situated  on  the  great  trunk  line  of  the  country, 
and  midway  between  the  two  commercial 
capitals  of  the  Atlantic   Coast,  she   occupies  a 


146  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

strategic  [)ositiuii  destined  to  give  her  a  con- 
stantly inci'easing  bold  ii[)on  the  great  regions 
wliicli  lie  toward  the  setting  sun. 

It  is  not  strange,  in  vie\v  of  the  brilliant  past 
of  the  old  college,  and  the  marvellous  renais- 
sance which  recent  years  have  witnessed,  that 
Princeton  men  should  look  towards  the  future 
with  unhesitating  confidence  and  enthusiasm. 
They  are  provei'bially  the  most  devoted  body 
of  collegians  in  the  countr}^  With  an  ardor 
which  time  does  not  seem  to  diminish,  gray- 
haired  alumni  unite  with  undergraduates  in 
chanting  the  praises  of  the  present,  and  prophe- 
sying great  things  to  be  written  upon  the  virgin 
pages  of  coming  years.  The  critical  observer 
will  doubtless  make  some  deductions  for  the 
pardonable  optimism  which  springs  from  a  deep, 
personal  interest.  At  the  same  time,  he  will 
recognize  that  a  great  enthusiasm  cannot  come 
without  some  adequate  exciting  cause.  He  will 
see  that  an  institution  which  wins  such  alle- 
giance from  her  sons  must  possess  an  atmosphere 
most  favorable  to  the  development  of  a  gener- 
ous, manly  culture ;  he  will  perceive  in  the 
spirit  which  pervades  the  sons  of  Nassau  Hall, 
the  strongest  justification  of  her  present  claims, 
as  well  as  find  in  it  the  surest  indication  of  a 
fondly  anticipated  destiny. 


VII. 

UNDER  THE  PRINCETON  ELMS. 

These  old  elms  on  the  campus  know  more 
than  they  tell.  Very  few  rushes  they  have  not 
seen;  not  a  cane-spree  but  they  have  caught 
glimpses  of  it  around  the  corners  of  West  Col- 
lege ;  they  have  stood  about  the  bonfires  in  the 
Quadrangle  at  many  a  great  celebration,  and 
have  cast  their  shadows  on  groups  of  men  sad- 
dened by  touch-downs  at  the  wrong  end  of  the 
field.  If  Nassau  Hall  has  a  familiar  spirit,  and 
it  certainly  must  have,  you  may  be  quite  sure 
that  it  is  lurking  somewhere  among  the  branches 
of  the  old  elms.  Without  them  Princeton 
would   not  be  Princeton. 

At  Northfield  recently,  where  over  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  colleges  were  represented,  an 
Oberlin  man  remarked  how  the  Princeton  boys 
seemed  to  stick  together.  "  Why,"  he  said, 
"you  fellows  are  just  like  one  big  family." 
And  he  was  right.  There  is  no  other  college 
of  the  size  where  the  undergraduates  are  so  well 

149 


I50  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

acquainted.  It  was  in  Pi-incetou  tliat  the  col- 
lege grounds  ^vere  first  called  The  Campus,  and 
it  is  in  Princeton  only  that  the  full  meaning  of 
the  word  is  realized.  How  we  do  like  to  talk 
about  that  old  Campus,  with  its  broad  stretches 
of  lawn,  its  stately  buildings  and  venerable 
elms  !  Ho\v  we  love  to  breathe  its  air  and  revel 
in  its  unlimited  freedom  !  How  often  have  we 
thrown  down  our  l)ooks  and  sought  relief  for 
weary  ])rain  in  its  inexhaustible  resources ! 
Does  any  one  \visli  a  little  pi-actice  at  his  favor- 
ite sport  ?  Let  him  go  out  on  the  Campus  and 
meet  a  lot  of  fellows  lookinsrforthe  same  thino-. 
Does  he  want  a  companion  for  a  walk,  or  a 
party  for  a  quiet  game  in  his  room  ?  He  can 
find  them  on  the  Campus.  Does  he  long  for 
the  pleasure  of  a  pure  and  simple  loaf?  He 
may  join  the  groups  in  front  of  Old  North  and 
forget  the  ills  of  life  in  the  careless  di-ift  of  col- 
lege chat.  One  can't  help  getting  ac(piainted. 
Yale  and  Harvard  men  have  told  me  that  they 
have  gone  through  their  course  knowing  only  a 
dozen  or  so  men.  Nearly  every  man  here  is 
acquainted  with  his  whole  class,  and  is  on 
speaking  terms  with  half  the  college.  Our  dor- 
mitories are  nothino;  but  biix  club-houses,  and 
the  Campus  is  sinq)ly  an  extension  built  out 
into  the  open  aii-. 


UNDER  THE  PRINCETON  ELMS.  I  53 

Then  the  eating  clubs.  They  are  generally 
made  up  of  a  dozen  or  more  congenial  fellows 
who  make  arrangements  with  the  powers  of  the 
kitchen  through  an  agent  or  "club  runner." 
The  club  runner  is  the  Tribune  of  the  People, 
and  it  is  his  lousiness  to  present  the  complaints 
and  wishes  of  his  clients  to  the  portly  landlady 
(all  Princeton  landladies  are  portly),  who  is  in- 
variably on  the  brink  of  ruin  because  she  gives 
her  boarders  too  much  for  the  money.  If  the 
Tribune  cannot  preserve  the  comity  of  gastro- 
nomic relations,  he  takes  his  club  to  another 
house,  which  is  always  "the  best  place  in  town." 
These  little  circles  around  the  table  are  the 
units  of  college  life.  They  are  the  little  forums 
where  everything  is  discussed,  from  football  to 
the  Kantian  Critique ;  in  their  daily  pow-wows 
friendships  are  formed  which  will  never  be 
broken.  They  are  made  up  of  men  of  kindred 
tastes,  and  each  one  has  its  distinctive  character. 
One  club  in  the  senior  class  is  composed 
entirely  of  philosophers.  Go  there  for  dinner, 
and  you  will  see  everybody  forgetting  his  soup 
until  they  have  settled  the  relative  merits  of 
Calderwood's  and  Martineau's  theories  of  the 
conscience.  It  would  not  be  hard  to  find  other 
clubs  where  conscience  never  interferes  with 
the  soup. 


154  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

Twice  witliiu  the  last  fifteen  years  has  a 
"  Commons  "  been  established,  where  excellent 
food  was  suj)plied  at  I'easonable  rates.  But 
each  time  the  boys  soon  pined  for  the  privacy 
and  freedom  of  the  old  club-room  with  its  sono- 
and  jest,  and  the  commons  became  a  thing  of 
the  past.  In  recent  years  many  of  the  clubs 
have  l)ecome  more  ambitious,  and  a  number  of 
commodious  houses  have  been  erected.  Here 
the  dining-room  and  back  parlor  of  the  village 
houses  have  given  place  to  all  the  comforts  of  a 
modern  club.  Ivy  was  the  first  to  build. 
Already  the  inviting  homes  of  Cap  and  Gown, 
Cottage,  Colonial,  Tiger  Inn,  and  University 
are  occupied  by  their  members,  and  additional 
buildings  are  going  up  every  year. 

If  the  social  life  at  Princeton  is  not  remark- 
ably gay,  it  is  exceedingly  pleasant.  The 
winter  brings  on  the  Senior  Assembly  and  the 
Junior  Promenade  with  their  accompanying 
teas,  and  the  Sophomore  Reception  makes  a 
gala  night  in  the  middle  of  commencement  week. 
Each  Friday  evening  finds  a  procession  of  pil- 
grims on  their  way  to  the  ^veekly  reception  at 
Evelyn,  and  orange-and-black  buttons  are  often 
seen  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Trenton 
drawing-rooms.  Pi'inceton  is  one  of  the  oldest 
towns  in  Jersev,  and  is  still  the  residence  of  a 


*«:- 


UNDER  THE  PRINCETON  ELMS,  I  57 

number  of  colonial  families,  whose  homesteads 
give  an  added  charm  to  the  quiet  streets,  and 
whose  modern  representatives  unite  with  the 
professors  and  their  families  to  make  up 
"  Princeton  society."  This  circle  is,  of  course, 
quite  small  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  col- 
lege, but  the  Princeton  people  throw  open  their 
doors  with  a  hospitality  which  goes  far  to 
compensate  for  lack  of  numbers. 

There  are  always  some  men  who  go  out  con- 
siderably, and  if  the  number  is  not  as  large  as 
it  might  be,  the  students  have  only  themselves 
to  blame.  The  fact  is,  our  college  life  is  so  full 
and  absorbing,  that  there  is  little  inclination  to 
supplement  it.  After  running  around  in  flannels 
all  day,  the  decision  is  generally  one  way  when 
the  alternative  comes  in  the  evening  of  attiring 
one  's  self  for  a  call  or  dropping  into  a  neigh- 
bor's room.  Who  does  not  know  the  charm  of 
those  evenings  in  a  fellow's  room  ?  It  does  n't 
matter  much  what  is  done.  A  few  banjos 
improvise  an  orchestra ;  there  are  stories,  songs, 
jests,  a  hand  at  whist ;  possibly  crackers  and 
cider  for  refreshments.  The  details  are  of  small 
importance  ;  the  real  pleasure  is  in  the  freedom 
and  abandon  of  college  companionship,  the  jolly 
camaraderie  of  half  a  dozen  of  the  best  fellows 
in  the  world. 


158  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 


These  little  circles  fill  many  a  loug  winter 
evening,  but  when  the  spring  comes  the  twang 
of  the  banjo  is  low,  and  the  thud  of  the  base- 
ball bat  is  heard  in  the  land.  Everybody 
moves  outside  and  becomes  an  athlete.  The 
Princetonian  issues  its  annual  challeno-e  to  the 
Lit.  /  eating-club  teams  organize  and  train  with 
an  ardor  worthy  of  the  'Varsity,  and  every 
other  man  you  meet  is  a  captain  or  manager. 
He  is  looking  for  another  captain  or  manager, 
and  wants  to  arrange  a  game  for  that  afternoon 
back  of  AVitherspoon.  A  good-natured  crowd 
is  on  hand  to  coach,  cheer,  or  guy,  as  the  occa- 
sion demands,  while  the  "  Grasshoppers  "  ham- 
mer out  base  hits  on  the  ''  Hoffman  House,"  or 
the  "  Butterflies "  make  life  miserable  for  the 
umpire.  One  can't  live  in  Princeton  without 
learning  to  play  ball.  On  a  good  spring  day 
you  can  scarcely  walk  from  Reunion  to  the 
gymnasium  without  having  to  field  a  ball  gone 
astray  from  some  bat,  to  which  your  attention 
is  called  by  vociferous  cries  of  "  Thank  you, 
there  !  "  In  the  fall  it  is  football,  and  wonder- 
ful teams  in  a  wonderful  medley  of  costumes 
play  with  the  desperation  of  a  Thanksgiving 
game. 

Then  those  Saturday  trips  to  the  neighbor- 
ing preparatory  schools !    It  is  a  beautiful  day ; 


UNDER  THE  PRINCETON  ELMS.  l6l 


coaches,  ovei'llovviug  with  players,  managers, 
and  mascots,  leave  the  front  campus  gate  after 
dinner,  and  spin  across  the  country  to  Lawrence- 
ville,  Hightstown,  or  Pennington.  The  "preps" 
always  labor  under  the  impression  that  they  are 
playing,  if  not  the  'Varsity,  at  least  the  'Varsity 
scrub,  and  a  corresponding  degree  of  enthu- 
siasm prevails.  The  girls  are  out  on  the  grand 
stand  in  full  force,  and  applaud  hue  catches 
and  errors  with  delightful  impartiality.  If  the 
visitors  lose,  they  leave  a  proud  and  happy 
prep,  school  behind  them ;  but  little  care  they 
for  that.  Their  coach  rolls  back  to  Princeton 
over  the  moonlit  road,  their  jolly  chorus  wakes 
the  plodding  Jersey  farmer,  and  it  is  midnight 
when  some  strolling  students  hail  them  at  the 
cam[)us  gate  with,  "What's  the  score?" 

Tliei'e  is  an  impression  among  many  who 
have  never  seen  university  life  from  the  inside, 
that  the  good  old  days  when  men  studied  have 
gone  by,  and  the  porches  of  the  academe  have 
yielded  to  the  shining  track  of  Olympia. 
Twenty  years  ago  there  were  no  college  ath- 
letics, and  now  the  outside  world  hears  of  little 
else.  Thirty  thousand  people  go  to  the  great 
games  in  New  York ;  only  the  night  watchman 
sees  the  light  in  the  window  burning  late  into 
the  nii:!;lit,  where  some  Sophomore  is  wrestling 


l62  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 


with  conic  sections,  or  a  belated  Senior  is  pour- 
ing over  tlie  mysteries  of  the  ens  reaUssimum. 
The  New  York  papers  print  long  articles  on 
the  sprinter  who  breaks  the  world's  record  in 
the  hundred  yards,  and  publish  portraits  of  the 
famous  half-backs.  No  one  sees  how  these 
same  men  toil  for  literary  and  curriculum  hon- 
ors when  they  leave  the  athletic  field;  no  men- 
tion is  made  of  their  twelve  hundred  college 
mates  who  are  quietly  earning  their  degree  by 
four  years'  honest  woi'lc.  Indeed  there  is  a  vast 
amount  of  intellectual  life  outside  of  the  regu- 
lar courses.  The  two  Halls  are  filled  with  eager 
debaters  and  orators.  Shakespeare  clubs,  and 
all  manner  of  literary  circles  meet  during  the 
winter,  and  spend  long  hours  in  settling  the 
great  problems  of  literary  controversy.  Three 
periodicals  are  supported  by  the  college  and 
entirely  conducted  by  undergraduates. 

At  the  same  time  this  is  not  what  we  care 
to  talk  about.  Hours  spent  over  Greek  roots 
don't  arouse  much  enthusiasm,  but  let  that  last 
game  be  mentioned.  We  see  the  whole  thing 
— just  where  the  men  stood  on  the  bases,  just 
how  the  ball  was  pitched,  just  how  that  famous 
hit  saved  the  game !  Have  not  we,  who  have 
cheered  to  victory  or  supported  in  defeat  many 
a   plucky   team,   a  right  to  laud  the    athletic 


UNDER  THE  PRINCETON  ELMS,  1 65 


glories  of  our  Alma  Mater  ?  Athletics  !  They 
are  the  hope  of  our  RepulDlic.  They  develop 
tlie  courage  and  vngor  and  fortitude  which  have 
made  the  Auo-lo-Saxou  master  of  the  world. 
The  man  who  watches  the  contest  catches  its 
spirit,  and  goes  away  with  a  larger  heart  and  a 
firmei'  will.  Ever  may  the  sons  of  Nassau  Hall 
cultivate  the  generous  and  manly  vigor  of  the 
true  "  foot-ball  spirit." 

In  the  fall  there  is  a  daily  pilgrimage  to  the 
'Varsity  grounds  to  see  the  practice.  Here  are 
trained  those  foot-ball  teams  whose  weio;hts  as- 
sume  such  enormous  proportions  in  the  college 
press.  We  have  known  a  half-back  to  go  up 
from  one  hundred  and  forty  to  one  hundred  and 
fift3'-five  pounds  by  the  simple  expedient  of  hav- 
ing his  weight  printed  in  The  Crimson  after  a 
Harvard  game.  Here  are  developed  those  rush- 
ers who  rush  so  hard  that  some  of  our  friends 
can  account  for  their  prowess  only  on  the  hy- 
pothesis that  they  are  drawing  large  salaries. 
The  college  lines-up  along  the  ropes ;  every 
player  is  watched,  and  every  good  play  enthu- 
siastically cheered.  Each  spectator  feels  that 
tlie  responsil)ility  for  the  championship  rests 
largely  on  liis  shoulders,  and  has  his  own  views 
as  to  the  wisdom  of  the  captain's  method  of 
training.    For  two  months  nothing  is  heard  l)ut 


1 66  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

foot-ball.  The  papers  are  read  only  to  see  the 
scores  of  other  teams,  and  former  games  are 
played  over  with  a  never-dying  interest.  The 
climax  comes  on  Thanksgiving  day,  when  we 
go  to  New  York  for  the  Yale  game.  The  col- 
lege goes  en  masse,  leaving  a  score  of  musty 
bookw^orms  and  a  dozen  of  stranded  unfortu- 
nates in  sole  possession.  Every  man  wears  his 
orange-and-black  button,  and  the  Freshmen 
celebrate  the  first  opportunity  to  wear  colors 
by  a  prodigious  display  of  orange  ribbons  on 
their  umbrellas,  canes,  and  hats. 

Then  the  game  !  Thousands  of  people,  gaily 
decorated  coaches,  a  profusion  of  streamers,  and 
a  rattling  fire  of  hostile  cheers.  A  storm  of 
applause  announces  the  appearance  of  the  teams. 
A  little  practice,  and  then  the  excitement  rises 
to  a  pitch  absolutely  painful  as  the  line-up  is 
made  and  a  dashing  V  opens  the  battle.  How 
they  play !  We  win,  or  else  we  don't.  If  we 
win,  New  York  is  n't  lai'ge  enough  for  us  that 
night.  Eveiy  man,  woman,  and  child  on  Broad- 
way seems  to  be  wearing  orange-and-black,  the 
world  was  never  so  bright,  the  theatres  are 
crowded  with  spectators  more  bent  on  celebra- 
ting than  on  seeing  the  play,  and  after  midnight 
a  tired  and  ha[)py  crowd  boards  the  "  owl "  for 
Princeton,    telling    each    other    over    and    over 


UNDER  THE  PRINCETON  ELMS.  1 6/ 

again  how  it  was  done.  If  we  lose,  things  are 
tlift'erent. 

The  genus  poller  is  never  more  distinct  than 
during  the  foot-ball  season.  He  rarely  casts  his 
shadow  within  the  'Varsity  gates,  and  some- 
times does  not  even  know  who  are  on  the  team. 
There  is  a  tradition  of  a  poller  who  was  here 
for  three  years  without  knowing  where  the 
grounds  were,  but  it  does  not  appear  to  be  well 
authenticated. 

The  base-ball  returns  with  the  robins,  and 
with  it  the  daily  journey  to  the  practice  field  is 
renewed.  Princeton  generally  starts  out  with 
a  championship  team  and  rarely  fails  to  win 
the  first  Yale  game.  Something  often  turns 
up  before  the  end  of  the  season  and  we 
don't  get  as  many  championships  as  we  should, 
but  while  vv^e  are  enjoying  the  prospect  of  vic- 
tory everything  is  lovely.  If  it  is  our  turn  to 
go  to  New  Haven,  an  eager  crowd  gathers  in 
front  of  the  telegraph  office  to  hear  returns  an 
hour  before  there  is  a  possibility  of  any  news. 
A  number  of  humorists  take  advantao-e  of  the 
opportunity  to  start  false  reports.  One  goes 
up-stairs  to  the  office,  then  suddenly  dashes 
down  in  wild  excitement ;  his  abettors  at  the 
door  raise  a  cheer  which  is  echoed  over  the 
whole  campus.     Princeton  has  won — seven  to 


l68  PRIXCETON  SKETCHES. 

three  !  The  Freshmen  are  delighted  until  they 
meet  an  upper  classman,  who  smiles  and  says 
that  the  news  nev^er  comes  in  so  early.  The 
Avaiting  crowed  relieves  the  suspense  by  singing 
and  speculating. 

At  last  the  true  word  comes  and  we  have 
won !  No  rest  for  the  Freshmen  that  night ! 
They  must  scour  the  town  and  country  for  a 
mile  around  in  search  of  fuel.  They  determine 
that  their  lire  shall  be  the  biggest  ever  seen.  Con- 
tracts are  made  for  gallons  of  oil,  and  tar  barrels 
sell  at  a  premium.  Prudent  housekeepers  have 
their  front  o-ates  taken  in  and  send  their  hus- 
bands  out  to  watch  the  coops  and  dog-houses  in 
the  back  yai'd.  Gangs  of  suspicious-looking 
individuals  in  old  clothes  scout  the  streets  and 
alleys,  returning  with  a  vast  miscellany  of 
boards,  gates,  panels  of  fence — anything  that 
will  burn.  A  few  Juniors  with  the  critical  eye 
of  professional  builders  direct  the  arrangement 
of  the  pile  about  the  big  cannon.  Straw  and 
tar  barrels  first,  then  boxes  and  rails ;  then 
everything  that  comes  in.  When  the  task  is 
completed,  the  last  can  of  oil  poured  on,  and 
the  dark  pyramid,  thirty  or  forty  feet  high, 
towers  up  in  the  centre  of  the  quadrangle,  the 
column  is  formed,  and,  with  torches,  horns, 
drums,  bannei's,  and  fire-crackers,  moves  off  in 


#*■'■ 


UNDER  THE  PRINCETON  ELMS.  171 


triumphal  marcL.  The  President  and  some  of 
the  Faculty  are  visited  and  called  upon  for 
speeches.  They  come  out  on  their  piazzas  and 
make  a  few  remarks,  in  which  every  sentence 
is  punctuated  by  a  tremendous  cheer.  When 
the  circuit  is  completed  the  celebrators  return 
to  the  campus  and  apply  the  match.  A  column 
of  flame  shoots  up  through  the  tree-tops,  and  in 
the  broad  glare  of  the  bonfire  happy  and  con- 
tented groups  stand  about  and  discuss  the  full 
score  just  received.  When  the  embers  are 
burning  to  a  dark  I'ed  and  the  great  clock  in  the 
belfry  of  Old  North  strikes  midnight,  the  last 
stragglers  retire  to  their  rooms  or  go  down  to 
Dohm's  to  finish  their  discussion  around  a  table. 

Entrance  examinations  are  scarcely  over  be- 
fore a  few  zealous  Junioi's  are  busy  getting  the 
new  class  out  for  its  first  rush.  With  great 
care  the  word  is  circulated  that  the  next 
night  at  ten  the  class  will  form  back  of  the 
Observatory.  The  Sophomores  are  to  be  taken 
completely  by  surprise.  The  secret  is  so  bur- 
densome that  the  Freshmen  gather  in  groups 
and  talk  earnestly  under  their  breath  in  their 
efforts  to  keep  it.  They  pass  on  the  street  with 
knowing  looks,  and  exchange  significant  ges- 
tures. As  a  natural  result,  the  Sophomores 
are  generally   in  front   of  Reunion  waiting  for 


172  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

the  fun  to  begin.  What  a  delicious  sense  of 
conspiracy  and  adventure  there  is  in  that  silent 
gathering  for  the  first  rush  !  Every  approach- 
ing figure  is  scrutinized  ;  rumor  says  the  entire 
Sophomore  class  is  lined-up  back  of  Wither- 
spoon.  Scouts  are  sent  out  to  work  the  dormi- 
tories and  report  on  the  enemy.  And  then,  for 
the  first  time,  the  stillness  is  broken  by  three 
cheers  for  '9 —  !  a  challeuo;e  and  defiance  to  the 
Sophomores.  It  is  not  a  very  good  cheer ;  it  is 
ragged  and  rough,  and  runs  down  at  the  end 
like  an  exhausted  bag-pipe.  But  never  mind, 
they  mean  it,  and  it  is  the  old  cheer.  They 
will  soon  learn  it  better ;  they  will  ring  it  out 
with  passionate  enthusiasm  in  the  critical 
moments  of  great  games.  It  will  proclaim  the 
joy  of  many  a  victory,  and  when,  after  four 
years'  cheering,  with  depleted  ranks  they 
stand  for  the  last  time  on  the  steps  of  Old 
Nassau  at  the  close  of  the  last  Senior  singing, 
they  will  express  their  undying  devotion  to 
class  and  Alma  Mater  by  a  deep  and  sober 
chorus  in  that  best  of  college  cheers :  "  Rah ! 
Rah  !  Rah  !  Tiger  !  Sis  !  Boom  !  Ah  !  Prince- 
ton ! " 

AVe  have  forgotten  our  Freshmen  again  ;  but 
the  Juniors  have  been  taking  good  care  of 
them.      By  this  time  they  are  marching  around 


UNDER  THE  PRINCETON  ELMS.  1 75 


the  triangle  singing  "  Here  's  to  'U — ,"  and 
woi'king  up  courage  for  the  impending  conflict. 
At  lust  the  moment  of  destiny  is  come.  They 
are  lined  up  closely,  eight  abreast,  the  big  men 
in  front  and  the  little  men  behind,  ready  to 
push  for  all  they  are  worth.  The  column  heads 
for  the  front  campus  gate,  and  a  thrill  of  pleas- 
ure or  fear  runs  down  every  spine  as  the  sharp, 
clear-cut  Sophomore  cheer  announces  that  the 
opposing  forces  are  coming  to  dispute  entrance. 
This  is  usually  the  signal  for  Mat.  Goldie  to 
step  in  and  say  :  "  Gentlemen,  if  there  is  a  rush, 
every  man  in  it  will  leave  college  to-mori-ow." 
Sometimes  this  is  effective,  but  the  blood  of  '9 — 
is  generally  too  warm  to  be  cooled  by  the  Proc- 
tor's eloquence.  The  Juniors  pull  their  hats 
over  their  eyes  and  move  among  the  Freshmen, 
suggesting  that  Mat.  don't  know  them  any- 
how\  A  short  parley,  and  then,  with  a  fierce 
shout,  at  it  they  go.  The  two  solid  columns 
dash  together  —  a  violent  collision,  a  few 
moments'  desperate  pushing  in  the  densely 
packed  masses,  suddenly  something  gives  way, 
and  you  are  either  Joining  in  a  rousing  cheer  for 
victory,  or  gathering  the  scattered  forces  for 
another  charge.  These  rushes  are  comparatively 
harmless,  and  do  a  great  deal  to  bring  men 
together. 


176  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

After  the  rush  comes  the  pasting  of  the 
"  procs,"  and  then  the  cane-spree,  and  so  one 
might  go  on  indefinitely.  But  a  complete  nar- 
ration of  the  whole  medley  of  events  Avhich 
make  up  our  varied  existence  would  still  fail 
to  give  its  essence,  the  indefinable  charm  of  that 
spirit  which  lingers  about  Nassau  Hall  and 
sheds  its  influence  over  all  the  petty  incidents 
of  college  life.  We  feel  it  when,  in  those  inex- 
tricable groups  where  every  one  seems  to  be 
reclining  on  every  one  else,  we  lie  on  the  grass 
and  listen  to  the  Senior  singing ;  it  creeps  over 
us  when  we  stroll  about  the  campus  under  the 
stars ;  it  comes  down  with  the  moonbeams 
through  the  leaves  of  the  whispering  elms ;  and 
in  after  years,  when  the  glad  freedom  of  under- 
graduate life  is  past,  and  the  whilom  college 
boy  has  become  a  grave  alumnus,  and  is  pulling 
steadily  in  the  traces  on  the  dusty  highway  of 
life,  betimes  in  day-dreams  will  come  a  fragrant 
breeze  and  the  murmuring  of  elm  leaves,  and 
the  eye  of  the  grave  alumnus  will  brighten. 
For,  he  says,  it  is  a  breath  from  the  old  campus, 
and  in  it  whispers  the  spirit  of  Nassau  Hall. 


VIII. 

THE  PRINCETON  IDEA. 

In  the  eyes  of  many  good  people,  Princeton 
stands  for  conservatism.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
most  of  them  could  tell  just  what  this  means, 
but  on  the  whole  there  is  a  hazy  idea  that  here 
things  are  not  done  just  as  the  rest  of  the  world 
does  them.  There  is  an  impression  that  some- 
where on  the  campus  is  the  spot  where  Jonathan 
Edwards  "stamped  his  iron  heel,"  and  that  this 
sacred  indentation  is  the  fetich  of  every  true 
son  of  Nassau  Hall.  To  a  Princeton  man  who 
really  knows  his  Alma  Mater  and  appreciates 
her  spirit,  all  this  is  sufficiently  amusing.  To 
one  who  is  in  the  strong,  full  current  of  under- 
graduate life,  or  who  has  felt  the  ardent  and 
progressive  spirit  which  dominates  the  Faculty 
in  the  work  of  the  various  departments,  or  in 
the  more  general  concerns  of  college  policy,  the 
charge  that  Princeton  is  not  in  sympathy  with 
modern  progress  can  only  provoke  a  smile. 

And  yet  there  is  a  sense  in  which  Princeton 
179 


l80  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

does  uot  object  to  the  charge  of  conservatism. 
The  College  of  New  Jersey  is  peculiarly  for- 
tunate in  her  traditions.  She  was  founded  and 
nurtured  by  men  fired  with  the  spirit  which 
guided  the  two  most  important  revolutions  in  the 
histoiy  of  English-speaking  peoples.  The  names 
of  Princeton  and  Nassau  Hall  and  the  orange 
ribbon  tell  the  story  of  her  relation  to  the 
Revolution  of  1688.  Her  five  signatures  to  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  her  twenty-nine 
members  of  the  Continental  Congress,  and  the 
historic  room  in  Old  North  where  that  body 
held  session,  show  her  connection  with  the 
Revolution  of  1776.  The  passionate  love  of 
liberty,  hatred  of  pretence,  manly  independence 
and  broad  democratic  spirit  which  characterized 
the  men  who  founded  Princeton  and  guided  her 
early  course  have  been  cherished  by  succeeding 
generations.  Princeton  is  proud  of  her  past, 
and  is  not  anxious  to  part  from  it.  She  finds 
in  it  the  greatest  inspiration  for  the  present  and 
the  brightest  promise  for  the  future. 

For  Princeton  is  a  college  with  a  future.  The 
atmosphere  is  full  of  it.  Every  one  talks  about 
the  growth  of  the  university,  the  development 
of  the  university  spirit,  the  wonderful  strides 
during  the  last  twenty  years  and  the  anticipated 
advance  of  the  next  decade.     The  number  of 


THE  PRINCETON  IDEA.  1 83 


students  has  about  doubled  in  four  years.  The 
public  college  buildings,  Avhicli  have  been 
completed  or  undertaken  during  the  same  period, 
equal  the  entire  number  in  use  when  '91  were 
Freshmen.  The  Electrical  and  Chemical  Schools 
have  been  added  and  furnished  with  splendidly 
equipped  buildings.  The  Art  School  has  been 
completed,  and  Dr.  Prime  has  placed  in  it  his 
magnificent  collection.  The  Law  School  is 
talked  of  as  a  thing  of  the  near  future.  Students 
and  professors  are  caught  by  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  movement.  The  latter  are  watching  every 
opportunity  to  advance  the  college  ;  the  former 
organize  sectional  clubs  to  work  up  Princeton 
sentiment,  and  go  out  every  summer  a  band  of 
propagandists  to  campaign  among  their  friends. 
All  this  is  purely  spontaneous.  A  normal 
Princeton  man  has  an  intense  patriotism  and  an 
unalterable  conviction  that  his  friend  makes 
the  mistake  of  his  life  if  he  goes  elsewhere.  The 
result  is  that  the  size  of  recent  Freshmen  classes 
has  been  practically  limited  only  by  the  accom- 
modatioDs.  Dormitory  rooms  are  at  a  premium, 
and  the  town  is  full  of  students.  It  seems  that 
the  buildings  cannot  be  put  up  fast  enough  to 
relieve  the  pressure. 

It  is  the  combination  of  these  two  ideas  which 
largely  controls    Princeton    to-day — loyalty   to 


I  84  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

tbe  past  and  confidence  in  the  future.  They 
are  not  inharmonious ;  it  is  the  connection  be- 
tween them  which  constitutes  the  conservatism 
of  Nassau  Hall.  The  future  is  not  to  be  sepa- 
rated from  the  past,  but  built  upon  it ;  a  structure 
growing  so  rapidly  must  have  a  broad  founda- 
tion. The  methods  and  policy  which  have 
stood  the  test  of  years  are  not  to  be  thrown 
away  for  a  theory.  Progress  must  come  by 
modification  and  development  rather  than  by 
radical  nmovation.  The  gradual  expansion  of 
the  curriculum  and  the  evolution  of  the  elective 
systems  are  illustrations.  But  what  is  of  more 
concern  here  is  the  Princeton  Idea  as  it  affects 
undergraduate  life.  AVe  all  know  the  Harvard 
man  and  the  Yale  man ;  what  are  the  influences 
which  mould  the  Princeton  man  ? 

The  first  and  most  important  is  the  social 
theory  of  the  college.  Here,  most  strikingly, 
one  can  observe  the  power  and  vitality  of  the 
traditional  spirit.  There  is  probably  no  other 
spot  on  the  American  continent  quite  so  genu- 
inely democratic  as  the  Princeton  campus.  It 
is  not  that  invidious  distinctions  are  overlooked 
oi'  kept  under  ;  they  do  not  exist.  The  snob 
cannot  survive  in  this  atmosphere  ;  he  is  either 
laughed  out  of  his  snobbishness  or  laughed  out 
of  college.     The  instincts  of  a  2;entleman,  and  a 


THE  PRINCETON  IDEA.  1 87 

generous,  manly  spirit,  are  the  only  credentials. 
No  lines  are  drawn,  and  every  man  fraternizes 
with  his  neisrhbor  on  the  corner  in  front  of 
Reunion.  Here  is  the  centre  of  our  Kepublic. 
This  space  is  to  us  what  the  Forum  was  to 
Rome.  Is  there  some  hitch  in  athletic  matters  ? 
Has  the  Faculty  become  insubordinate,  or  is  a 
college  election  approaching?  Immediately 
there  is  a  gathering  of  the  clans  and  opinions 
are  advanced,  supported,  and  attacked  with  mar- 
vellous earnestness  and  force.  For  these  con- 
gresses rain  and  snow  have  no  terrors  ;  umbrellas 
and  storm-coats  are  brought  into  service,  and 
the  session  continued.  Men  move  from  one 
group  to  another  to  hear  the  various  oracles 
and  advocate  their  own  views.  Before  very 
long  there  is  a  substantial  agreement,  oi*  else 
party  lines  are  drawn  and  vigorously  sustained 
until  a  mass-meeting  in  the  English  room  settles 
the  matter. 

There  is  also  an  instinct  for  unity  which 
manifests  itself  very  strongly  in  the  classes. 
The  Freshmen  are  no  sooner  in  colles-e  than  the 
Seniors  and  Juniors  begin  to  give  them  a  great 
deal  of  good  advice.  "  Try  to  get  acquainted 
with  every  man  in  your  class ;  don't  wait  for  an 
introduction — introduce  yoursel  t'  as  a  classmate. 
Be  very  careful  not  to  let  your  class  get  split 


1 88  PRINCETON   SKETCHES. 

up  into  factions."  It  might  be  thought  that 
such  a  strong  and  self-conscious  development  of 
class  feeling  would  break  the  college  into  four 
segments,  but  this  is  not  the  case.  There  is  no 
axiom  in  Euclid  more  undisputed  than  this 
proposition  :  class  spirit  must  yield  to  college 
spirit.  The  former  is  simply  the  regimental 
pride  which  does  not  affect  the  esprit  de  corps 
of  the  brigade.  Not  many  colleges  could  do 
what  Princeton  did  recently,  when  Junior  cap- 
tains maintained  strict  discipline  over  Seniors 
and  Postgraduates  on  both  of  the  'Varsity 
teams.  Yet  here  there  was  no  difficulty  what- 
ever ;  the  fitness  of  the  men  for  their  positions 
was  recognized,  and  that  was  all-sufficient. 

It  nuist  be  confessed  that  Princeton  is  pecul- 
iarly fortunate  in  her  opportunities  for  cultivat- 
ing this  broad  college  spirit.  Here  men  are 
thrown  together  more  than  in  any  other  institu- 
tion of  the  size.  Yale  once  had  a  meagre  fence, 
which  she  prized  as  the  Florentines  did  their 
Piazze.  But  even  then  we  pitied  her  because 
she  did  not  have  a  campus.  What  would 
Princeton  do  without  her  scrub  athletics  ?  Or 
if  one  is  neither  a  ball-player  nor  a  "  lacrosse 
fiend,"  he  can  join  one  of  the  recumbent  groups 
on  the  Front  Campus,  and  smoke  and  chat  and 
look  up  through  tlie  elms.     Senior  singing  is 


THE  PRINCETON  IDEA.  191 

preserved  religiously.  The  P rincetonian  always 
urges  the  Seniors  to  come  out,  aud  the  whole 
college  gathers  around  tlie  steps  of  Old  North 
in  the  lono;  summer  twilio;ht  and  listens  to  the 
familiar  songs.  This  is  a  sacred  rite — it  means 
that  Princeton  men  are  one.  The  Senior  chorus 
chants  the  hymn,  aud  the  listeners  think  of  the 
time  when  they,  too,  will  sit  on  those  steps 
under  the  shadow  of  an  approaching  separation. 
Princeton's  two  old  halls  have  survived  from 
the  pre-Revolutiouaiy  period.  Their  records 
go  back  to  a  decade  before  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  among  the  charter  members 
they  can  point  to  such  names  as  James  Madison 
and  AVilliam  Paterson.  All  the  Americau  col- 
leges at  that  early  date  had  halls  of  a  similar 
nature,  but  they  have  gradually  disappeared 
before  the  rising  tide  of  Greek-Letter  Fraterni- 
ties. The  American  Whig  and  Cliosophic  soci- 
eties have  had  many  applications  for  charters 
from  other  institutions,  but  they  have  steadily 
refused  to  join  the  fraternity  movement.  This, 
too,  may  be  called  conservatism,  but  it  is  a  con- 
servatism which  has  given  Princeton  the  best 
halls  for  oratory  and  debate  in  tlie  country. 
Nearly  every  undergraduate  is  a  member  of 
one  of  them,  and  in  each  there  is  a  select  body 
of  men  wlio  liave  come  to  Princeton  largely  on 


192  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 


account  of  the  opportunities  which  these  halls 
offer,  and  who  are  training  in  parliamentary 
practice  and  public  speaking  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  venerable  traditions  of  their  chosen 
society.  Nowhere  else  is  the  science  of  debate 
so  carefully  studied,  or  oratory  more  sedulously 
practised,  and  the  annual  contests  on  commence- 
ment stage  arouse  as  much  enthusiasm  among 
the  hallmen  as  a  championship  game  in  New 
York.  Princeton's  literary  history  is  young, 
but  the  long  roll  of  her  sons  who  have  become 
honored  in  the  public  service  testifies  to  the 
wisdom  of  the  policy  which  has  preserved  the 
old  halls.  Law  students  have  told  me  that  in 
their  professional  schools  Princeton  men  are 
distinguished  by  the  ease  and  readiness  with 
which  they  address  an  audience,  and  the  fa- 
miliarity with  which  they  use  parliamentary 
forms.  In  their  new  and  imposing  marble 
buildings  the  societies  have  been  true  to  their 
traditions.  The  club  rooms  are  still  subordi- 
nated to  the  library  and  the  auditorium,  and  in 
their  new  homes  we  may  expect  Clio  and  Whig 
to  train  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  men  who 
will  reflect  honor  alike  on  their  college  and 
their  hall. 

Here,  too,  the  devotion  to  a  broad  college 
spirit   is   strikingly   shown.     These  two  great 


THE  PRINCETON  IDEA. 


195 


organizations   fight  vigorously  enough  for  the 
supremacy,  but  their  rivalry  is  confined  to  their 
own  sphere.     In  athletics  they  are  never  heard 
of,  and  it  is  rare  for  them  to  enter  class  elec- 
tions.     The   result   is    a   freedom  from    those 
cliques  and  jealousies  which  so  often  mar  the 
peace  of  fraternity  colleges.     When  Princeton 
men  hear  of  wrangles  over  athletic  captains,  or 
read  of  Senior  classes  giving  u]3  Class  Day  on 
account   of    fraternity   feuds,    they   breathe    a 
silent  Te  Deum  for  their  own  immunity.     Fra- 
ternities were  abolished  in   1855,  and  now  the 
undergraduates  would  not  allow  them  to  return. 
It  is  not  because  fraternities  are  objectionable 
in  themselves,  only  they  have  no  function  here. 
In  Cornell  they  aid   the  college  materially  by 
providing  apartments  for  the  men.     In  metro- 
politan colleges  like  Columbia  they  furnish  a 
basis  for  social  life ;  but  here  we  have  our  col- 
lege rooms,  and  prefer  the  broad,  fraternal  inter- 
course  of  dormitory  and  campus  to  the  more 
limited  friendship  of  the  chapter-house.     It  is 
true  we  have  our  social  clubs,  with  their  club- 
houses.    In    some    respects  they  resemble  the 
chapter-house,  but  only  in  a  faint  dei:;i'ee.     The 
secrecy  and  the  partisanship  of  the  fi-aternity  is 
wanting,  and  we  may  safely  trust  the  genius  of 
our  institutions  and    the  courtesy    and   public 


196  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

S[)irit  of  the  club  men  to  keep  them  from  mak- 
ing any  fracture  in  the  unity  of  class  or  college. 
In  1740  the  President  of  His  Majesty's  Coun- 
cil granted  a  charter  to  the  founders  of  the  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey  "  for  that  the  said  petitioners 
have  also  expressed  their  earnest  desii'e  that 
those  of  every  religious  denomination  may  have 
equal  liberty  and  advantage  of  education,  any 
different  sentiments  in  religion  notwithstand- 
ing " ;  and  two  years  later  the  new  Trustees  ex- 
pressed the  hope  to  Governor  Belcher  that  their 
infant  college  might  "  prove  a  flourishing  semi- 
nary of  piety  and  good  literature."  Princeton 
has  been  true  to  her  traditions  as  a  religious 
college.  The  curriculum  has  always  preserved 
a  place  for  Bible  study  ;  the  philosophical  chairs, 
while  taking  a  liberal  attitude  towards  the  new 
evolutionary  metaphysics,  and  recognizing  its 
valuable  contributions  to  the  world's  thought, 
have  stood  firmly  on  the  fundamental  principles 
of  Christian  theistic  philosophy.  Over  half  the 
members  of  the  college  are  professing  Christians, 
and  the  undergraduate  life  is  dominated  by 
Christian  men.  The  Philadelphian  Society  was 
founded  long  before  the  college  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
came  into  existence,  and  fondly  preserves  the 
old  name.  It  was  in  Princeton  that  the  Stu- 
dents' Volunteer  movement  originated.      Her 


THE  PRINCETON  IDEA.  1 99 

graduates  have  been  most  active  iu  its  expan- 
siou,  and  her  undergraduates  were  the  first  to 
assume  the  support  of  a  missionary  in  the  foreign 
field. 

While  this  is  true,  the  spirit  of  the  charter 
has  been  preserv^ed  in  an  utter  absence  of  denomi- 
national feeling.  The  presence  of  the  leading 
Presbyterian  seminary  in  the  same  town  has 
fostered  a  contrary  belief,  but  nothing  could  be 
further  from  the  truth.  The  first  Board  of 
Trustees  under  the  charter  was  made  up  of 
Quakers,  Episcopalians,  and  Presbyterians. 
Every  Christian  body  is  largely  represented, 
and  the  Episcopalian  students  have  a  flourish- 
ing society  of  over  a  hundred  members  in  con- 
nection with  the  parish  church.  In  so  large  a 
collegiate  body  there  are  all  kinds  of  men ;  but 
even  the  "  sport,"  if  he  does  not  practise  all  the 
virtues,  has  at  least  an  honest  respect  for  them, 
which  distinguishes  him  from  most  of  his  genus, 
and  gives  a  brighter  hope  for  his  future. 

If  we  were  to  attempt  a  picture  of  the  ideal 
Princeton  man,  he  would  be  first  of  all  a  gentle- 
man ;  a  man  with  a  vigorous  body,  a  true  eye, 
a  firm  hand,  and  a  sure  foot.  His  spirit  would 
be  candid  and  prompt,  his  manner  frank  and 
genial,  and  over  all  would  be  shed  the  light  of 
an   exalted   Christian   character.      This  is  the 


200  PRINCETON  SKETCHES. 

ideal.  Sometimes  a  man  comes  near  realizing 
it,  but  however  far  short  the  rest  may  come, 
the  ideal  is  there,  and  some  of  its  elements  are 
bound  to  penetrate  the  character  of  every  man 
who  really  breathes  the  spirit  of  Nassau  Hall. 

Monsieur  de  Coubertin,  in  his  tour  of  the 
American  colleges  in  1889,  heard  some  harsh 
criticisms  on  Princeton  from  men  of  a  rival 
institution.  He  criticises  her  in  some  things 
himself,  and  justly;  but  on  his  second  visit, 
with  a  remarkable  insight,  he  catches  and  ap- 
preciates her  true  meaning.  "  I  saw,"  he  says, 
"  that  these  were  the  true  Americans,  the  back- 
.bone  of  the  nation,  the  hope  of  the  future ;  that 
in  them  repose  traditions  already  venerable,  the 
ancient  sense,  the  moral  vigor ;  that,  finally,  in 
them  the  present  was  closely  linked  to  the  past 
and  perpetuated." 


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